From Talitha: Reflections

One of most beloved songs in the Passover seder is "Dayenu." The stanzas are read one at a time, and the participants respond, "Dayenu." 

The word "Dayenu" means, "It would have been enough for us." Each of the 15 stanzas refers to a blessing that God gave our people, such as deliverance from oppression, manna in the desert, freedom in our own land.  

I have pondered many time while hearing this song the importance of feeling and recognizing my own "Dayenu," or the bounty I have been given that would have been "enough." It is too easy to think about what we want or DON’T have, and forget all the good in our lives right before our eyes.

So let us never forget all the miracles in our lives.  When we stand and wait impatiently for the next one to appear, we are missing the whole point of life.  Instead, we can actively seek a new reason to be grateful, a reason to say “Dayenu.”

For when we are truly grateful, we invite more blessings and miracles into our lives.


Celebrate small victories—Dayenu! This famous song proclaims that we would have been satisfied even if God hadn’t taken our people all the way to freedom. Had God punished the Egyptians but not taken the Israelites out of Egypt—it would have been enough. Had God taken them out of Egypt but not brought them out of the wilderness, it would have been enough. But, of course, this isn’t so. What good is it to punish evildoers, without actually rescuing the vulnerable? What good is it to escape bondage only to wander without a home? In the spirit of Dayenu, embrace each small victory with gratitude, even as you continue working for the freedom of all.


haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu