Would it have been enough?

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Scholar Sol Schimmel in the book, The psychology of Gratitude observes that the format of Dayeinu is intentional: “One interpretation of the structure of this poem is that when we reflect on a benefit that G-d ( or by extension, another person) has done for us, we should break it into its multiple components, mediating on each element.” For gratitude to be truly felt on both sides, it must be enumerated in specifics. A general thank-you gets lost.

Still, some have trouble relating to Dayeinu, a hymn that encourages us to proclaim “it would have been enough!” after recounting each small blessing the Jews experienced on their way to liberation. Many struggle with this message, especially when we still live in a world full of injustice, where it seems that every aspect of our society is telling us to accept our current circumstances as “enough.”

Looking at other interpretations from Sol Schimmel, Rabbi and Dina Brewer, and T'ruah, we can put together a different interpretation that might prove useful. "In reality, not one of our blessings during the Exodus alone would indeed have been enough. But we celebrate each step toward freedom before moving to the next step. If we dismiss small victories, we will never achieve the whole liberation,” T'ruah writes in their Haggadah.

Rabbi & Dina Brewer:

Dayeinu is a highly counter-intuitive hymn.

Among its fourteen stanzas it proclaims that:

Had God taken our ancestors out of Mitzrayim, but not rescued them at the Red Sea, it would have been sufficient.

And had God rescued them at the Red Sea, but not nourished them in the dessert, it would have been sufficient.

And had God brought them to Sinai, but not given them the Torah, it would have been sufficient.

These statements make no sense. If God liberated our ancestors from Mitzrayim only to allow them to drown in the Red Sea, would that really have been cause for celebration? And what would have been the point of leading them out to the dessert, only have them starve? Or to bring them all the way to Sinai, only to withhold the Torah? Are any of these elements on their own really sufficient? Is the hymn just hyperbole?

Perhaps not. The reason it seems senseless to us is because we know how the story ends. We know that our ancestors have to end up in the Promised Land where they build God’s Temple. And so anything short of that is a failure.

But imagine if we didn’t know how the story was going to end. Then each separate episode would have been cause for thanksgiving. The Exodus would be a cause for celebration, because the Red Sea had yet to present itself as a terrifying obstacle. The overwhelming relief of being rescued from the Red Sea would be sufficient, because the harsh dessert was not yet a reality. And coming to Sinai is a blessing in itself, for who could possible anticipate the Giving of the Torah?

Dayeinu is an ingenious hymn because, by placing us squarely in the story, it allows us to experience what our ancestor’s would have felt as the events unfolded in real time.

[...]

Dayeinu invites us to be grateful for the blessings in our lives, as and when they unfold. We have no way of knowing how our story is going to end, much less what next year, or even tomorrow, will look like. All we have is here and now. Dayeinu teaches us to live in the moment by cherishing each of life's blessings as we experience them.

Placing ourselves in each moment before the next historical blessing also allows us to imagine how, without divine intervention, we might still struggle and persevere. If God hadn’t brought the Jews to their next waypoint on the road to liberation, in the same way we are taught God did in the Passover story, would the Jews just have given up?

Small victories also embolden us to demand larger ones, and this relates to current struggles for justice. When we learn to defend ourselves and fight for justice, when people are given a taste of how it feels to win concessions from power, we are both emboldened to demand more and given the tools and experience to better organize and fight for larger victories in the future.

We remember to cherish our successes along the way, to learn from them, to consider how we might persevere had our blessings looked different, and we remember always to demand more, to work towards total liberation for all.

haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu

Source: T'ruah, Sturner Family Haggadah, Harel Haggadah 2017