Shabbat ha'Gadol - Dayenu!

Parshat Acharei Mot 2011/5771

“Dayenu”©Rabbi Neil A. Tow

1.      Eelu hotzi….eelu natan lanu Torah…Dayenu

2.      It would have been enough for us, Dayenu.  Enough if God just took us out of Egypt, if God just gave us the Torah…any of these would have been enough for us, enough of a miracle to bind us as a people and turn us to God.

3.      The follow up to Dayenu in the Haggadah, is that God did all these things, presented us with such great gifts of goodness, and the follow up ends, “God brought us to the Land of Israel, and built for us a Temple as a place to seek atonement for our sins.”

4.      From slaves living under the power and whims of a flesh and blood ruler we participate with our hearts and souls in a building project of our own commanded by God, who sits above all earthly rulers, to build a place where we can stand honestly before God, confess, repent, and remake broken relationship with the Divine.

5.      We can say Dayenu for Yom Kippur too, for Jewish life, for the holidays and occasions that mark our time:  If God had only given us Shabbat, dayenu, if God had only given us Yom Kippur…and how amazing is it that we have so many opportunities to reflect, to connect to the world, to create community, to bring God’s presence into the world…

6.      When we’re into our routines, when we’re on the go, as life moves from one responsibility and activity to the next…what is dayenu for us?  What is sufficient?  What are the things that we need, to live, to thrive, to grow? 

7.      Passover is a time to sweep away the chametz, not just the physical chametz, the products made with leaven, it’s a time to brush away the spiritual chametz, the build-up, the thick, soft, leavened stuff that slowly accumulates around the heart…to get back to the simple, unleavened stuff of life, 18 minute matzah – that’s all we need, 18 minutes for flour and water to turn into basic, simple bread, bread that sustained slaves on their way out of Egypt, spiritual bread that can ground us once again

8.      What are the things we need to survive? The flour and water of life.

9.      This Passover, when we gather for Seder, when we visit with friends and family, when we walk outside in the hopefully warm and clear spring air, let’s all find our inner Dayenu, and let’s see the world around us from the perspective of dayenu – it is enough and more!

10.  All together – Dayenu!

11.  Shabbat Shalom.