It Would Have Been Enough
At the Passover Seder we have many songs we sing. Our table is always filled with people of different faiths and nationalities as we have always viewed it as the “Jewish Thanksgiving.” I’m not sure that is what G-d intended although I don’t claim to speak for the One Above. I believe the reason I am most passionate about Passover and Thanksgiving has much to do with the common bonds between the holidays. Family, G-d, friends, history, kinship, freedom, good food and don’t even mention the wine. They’re both fabulous evenings gathered with your loved ones around the table. At the Passover seder, we always sing – a lot. I recall one year when my dear Catholic friend Rysa was over and she changed the words from “Avadim Hayinu” (a song about having been slaves to the Pharaoh in Egypt) to “The Keys are in the Honda.” I’m not sure how she came up with that, but it may have had something to do with the fact that she could not find her car keys that night. The lyrics fit the song and while it may sound silly to you, I still laugh at her version of this ancient melody. Another song we sing is “Dayenu” which literally means “It would have been enough.” For example, “Had the sea been split the sea for us, and we had not been led through it to dry land, it would’ve been enough.” As we go through each stanza, it’s basically a way of saying, “Lord, had you only done this for us – it would have been enough.” Yet He did so much more. As a result, it is a time to rejoice in His blessings and be thankful for all we have.
This refrain of “It would have been enough” is said with tremendous gratitude to the Creator of us all, and it is truly one of the great songs of the Seder. I don’t mean to flip the model on its head, but it made me think about emotion. The events of October 7th were one thing. What has happened since then has sent my emotions in every direction. Fear, intimidation, love, anger, unity, sorrow, anxiety and so much more. When you live 45 minutes from the front lines of the war, you tend to run through emotions like the Shinkansen. So when did I get so emotional and when will these feelings leave me? So here’s my take:
- Had a synagogue not been burnt down in Tunisia only 12 days after the Hamas invasion. Dayenu. https://www.timesofisrael.com/historic-synagogue-in-tunisia-heavily-damaged-in-rioting-tied-to-israel-hamas-war/
- Had a British MP (Member of Parliament) not told a meeting of Lancashire Labour Party members that Israel “allowed the October 7th Hamas incursion to happen in order to give it the green light to invade Gaza. Dayenu.
- Had Syre Elementary School, a public school outside of Seattle, not taught seven year old students to hold mock anti-Israel protests. Dayenu. https://matzav.com/washington-school-teaches-kids-antisemitic-chants-holds-anti-israel-protests/
- Had a thirteen-year-old Israeli girl that was taken hostage in Gaza and repeatedly raped by the terrorist group not returned to Israel pregnant. Dayenu.
- Had a Swiss ski shop not refused to rent ski equipment to people of the Jewish faith. Dayenu. https://www.timesofisrael.com/swiss-ski-shop-in-hot-water-over-sign-refusing-rentals-to-jews/
- Had Tesco Supermarket in Liverpool not placed a sign under Sabra hummus that said, “Apartheid Houmous.” Dayenu.
- Had Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan not voted against a resolution condemning sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7th. Dayenu. https://nypost.com/2024/02/14/us-news/rep-rashida-tlaib-refuses-to-condemn-rape-and-sexual-violence-committed-by-hamas/
- Had tens of thousands of families from the north and the south of Israel not been displaced from their homes in the last four months. Dayenu.
- Had Jews not been attacked walking home from synagogue in Los Angeles. Dayenu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyUVtlTyUg
- Had MacKenzie Forrest, a student at Columbia University, not been harassed on campus by Palestinian student organizations and then told by the administration that she could not attend classes over ZOOM. Dayenu. https://www.foxnews.com/media/orthodox-jewish-student-columbia-virulently-hostile-environment-wake-oct-7-attack
- Had Hamas not used terrorists passing as “members of the press” to influence public opinion against Israel. Dayenu. Hamas deception is killing journalism – editorial – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
- Had throngs of people not gathered outside of my son’s friend’s home in the Flatbush section of New York with signs that said, “Jews get out.” Dayenu.
- Had Martin Griffiths, the UN Relief Chief, not said, “Hamas is not a terrorist group, as you know, it is a political movement.” Dayenu. https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-787084?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share
- Had UNWRA not allowed Hamas terrorists to store bombs and weapons in their schools and warehouses before and after October 7th. Dayenu.
- Had leading politicians in the USA not spoken about conditioning aid to Israel after the country was invaded and children were slaughtered. Dayenu. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/talks-of-conditioning-aid-to-israel-is-particularly-appalling-brooke-goldstein/vi-BB1ihR6H?ocid=socialshare
- Had thousands of people not rallied in Sydney, Australia to “Gas the Jews.” Dayenu.
- Had Conservative MP Mike Freer not been forced to resign his office simply because he spoke out in support of Israel and was threatened with violence. Dayenu. British MP steps down, cites threats received due to support of Israel – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
- Had one in four Jewish people in the USA not been victims of hate last year. Dayenu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R1ZVygVHwk
- Had 1,200 Israelis (mostly young people) not been killed on October 7th. Dayenu.
- Had Paul Currie a performer at the Soho Theater in London not said to a Jewish member of the audience: “Get out of my show, get the f-ck out of here.” Dayenu. https://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2024/02/juden-verboten-performer-at-soho-theater-in-london-chases-out-jewish-audience-members-while-davos-ski-shop-refuses-to-serve-jews/
- Had the tunnel complex underneath the Gaza Strip – which stretches 310 miles – never been constructed. Dayenu.
- Had we not been through 100+ days of hell. Dayenu. https://media.bringthemhomenow.net/media/100%20days%20in%20a%20world%20that%20we%20can’t%20even%20imagine/1_5f2hwnu0/320850342
At what point do we speak up? When do we stand up to hate? https://www.standuptojewishhate.org/
I have to ask Martin Griffiths, if Hamas is not a terrorist group, what is it? Mr. Griffiths, you are the United Nations Relief Chief. If an organization that rapes women, beheads children, kidnaps senior citizens, tortures teenagers and blows up homes of families on one of the holiest days of the year is not a terrorist organization, what is it? If your child were raped and dragged through the streets Marty, would you still feel that way?
Someone said to my son, “We can’t just blame the extremists on the Palestinian side, when we fail to blame the extremists on the Israeli side.” His answer, “It’s quite easy to blame the extremists of the other side when they rape us, kill us, call for our complete eradication, celebrate our deaths, party in the streets when we are taken hostage, distribute candies to children when we die and send lynch mobs to pull us out of our homes.”
I don’t want to be angry. I don’t want to be sad. I don’t want to feel anxiety. But it’s enough. IT. IS.ENOUGH.
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David
David at People for Israel
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