Dayenu (Hebrew:דַּיֵּנוּ) is a song that is part of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word "dayenu" means approximately "it would have been enough", "it would have been sufficient", or "it would have sufficed" (day in Hebrew is "enough", and -enu the first person plural suffix, "to us"). This traditional up-beat Passover song is over one thousand years old. The earliest full text of the song occurs in the first medieval haggadah, which is part of the ninth-century Seder Rav Amram.[1] The song is about being grateful to God for all of the gifts given to the Jewish people, such as taking them out of slavery, giving them the Torah and Shabbat, and had God only given one of the gifts, it would have still been enough. This is to show much greater appreciation for all of them as a whole. The song appears in the haggadah after the telling of the story of the exodus and just before the explanation of Passover, matzah, and the maror.
Dayenu has 15 stanzas representing the 15 gifts God bestowed. The first five involve freeing the Jews from slavery, the next describe the miracles He did for them, and the last five for the closeness to God He gave them. Each of the stanzas is followed by the word "Dayenu" (it would have been enough) sung repeatedly. The 15 stanzas are as follows:
Jews in Afghanistan and Iran hit each other over the head with green onions during the refrain beginning with the ninth stanza (Even if you had supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years but not provided us with manna). This may be due to a passage in Numbers 11:5–6, where the Israelites see manna and recall Egypt. "We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all. Nothing but this manna to look at." It is thought that by beating each other with the onions they taught themselves not to yearn for Egypt or to forget Egyptian slavery.[2]
In popular culture
Independent Israeli guitarist and singer Udi Davidi recorded a modern rendition of "Dayenu" on his 2006 album entitled "Back To You" (חוזר אליך).[3]
In Israeli screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, after the line "if only we hadn't made this journey... if only the car hadn't broken down... oh, if only we were amongst friends... Or sane persons," the audience sings the chorus of "Dayenu".[citation needed]
In the episode "Free to Be You and Me" of Supernatural, Dean tells the angel Castiel "Dayenu" as if the situation they are in is destined to be.[5]
Near the beginning of the 2013 videogame BioShock Infinite, a preacher recites a spoken sermon in a form identical to the song ("If he had done this, but not this, it would have been enough"), but in praise of the game's major antagonist rather than of God.[6]
Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday for Rabbinical Judaism, Karaite Judaism, and Samaritanism, one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, that celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt.
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Ma Nishtana It is a section at the beginning of the Passover Haggadah known as the TheFour Kushiyot, The Four Questions or "Why is this night different from all other nights?", traditionally asked via song by the youngest capable child attending Passover Seder.
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Telling the Story of the Exodus is a Torah commandment to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt on the night of the 15th of Nisan every year. This commandment is the basis and the central motive for reciting the Passover Haggadah on the Seder night. The commandment applies to every person from Israel and includes all the stories mentioned in the Scripture about the miracles performed for the Children of Israel when they left Egypt.
References
↑ Ben-Amos, Dan; Noy, Dov, eds. (2006). Folktales of the Jews: Tales from Eastern Europe. Vol.II. Jewish Publication Society of America. p.383. ISBN9780827608306.
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