The Dayenu is seen as one of the greatest prayers of thanksgiving. It tends to be sung as part of the Jewish Passover. The word Dayenu is translated as "it would have been enough for us" or "it would have sufficed."
The prayer is as follows:
If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and had not fed us the manna
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Beit Habechirah (Chosen House)
Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!
I wonder if many Jewish people say this prayer and think, "I don't know about the rest of you but this stuff God did for us was not enough. It was nice but He should have done more. I mean really He is the King of the Universe. And what good is all of that stuff to me now."
Prayers like the Dayenu or the Magnificat or even the Our Father, can be difficult prayers for us at times because we know the words we are saying are not true to us or we don't mean what we are saying. As in the case of the Magnificat we may think there is no way one can live up to these words of Mary. "My soul Magnifies the Lord!" That is quite a boast! Or as in the Our Father when ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. I would rather just say forgive us and pay no attention to how I forgive other. But I believe it is good for us to say them even if the words we are saying are not true for us. In fact I think it is all the more reason to say them and to say them often. Because maybe, just maybe the more we recite these words the more they will become true for us.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and maybe you are not feeling very thankful. Give thanks anyway. Choose to be thankful! He has given us more than enough. Dayenu.
