Dayenu

I was at a women’s retreat last fall and was blessed in many ways that weekend. One of the breakout sessions I attended taught about ‘dayenu’. I had first encountered this word a year ago when I attended a traditional seder meal at a local church. It has been extremely impactful and I’d like to share my personal dayenu with you. 

But first, what does dayenu even mean? Dayenu (Hebrew: דַּיֵּנוּ) means "it would have been enough" or "it would have sufficed" and is a traditional, joyful song sung at the Passover seder celebrating God's many blessings during the Exodus from Egypt, expressing gratitude that each single gift—like freedom, the Torah, or Shabbat—would have been sufficient on its own. It's a model for gratitude, emphasizing thankfulness for blessings, big and small, by listing numerous miracles and concluding each with "dayenu.”

As I was encouraged to think over the blessings of my life, the gratitude soon flowed freely and this was the result:

If You had only given me a carefree childhood with loving parents, it would have been enough.

If You had only allowed me to see true faith lived by others, it would have been enough.

If You had only allowed me to see the joy of serving You with others at Camp (Hebron), it would have been enough. 

If You had only allowed me the security of a godly man/marriage, it would have been enough.

If You had only blessed me with beautiful, faithful children, it would have been enough.

If You had only provided me with solid literature, it would have been enough.

If You had only set me free from sin, shame and guilt, it would have been enough.

If You had only blessed me with resources to be able to homeschool, it would have been enough.

If You had only brought healing through Plexus, it would have been enough.

If You had only spoken to me through the woods, mountains, and oceans, it would have been enough.

If You had only blessed me through so many generous people, it would have been enough.

If You had only revealed Your grace, it would have been enough.

If You had only heard my prayers, it would have been enough.

If You had only protected me and my loved ones, it would have been enough.

If You had only saved a marriage very dear to me, it would have been enough.

If You had only revealed Yourself through the Word, it would have been enough.

If You had only set me free from the depression, distraction and discouragement of body shame to the joy, focus and encouragement of freedom in You, it would have been enough!

And I could go on. This would be the proverbial tip of the iceberg. 

I challenge you to set aside some time, 30 minutes, perhaps, and begin your own dayenu. Looking back, I see that my gratitude for the blessings of God has increased recently. Perhaps it started when I realized that just one of the things listed above would have been sufficient for me to know God. 

What else is there?

For more of my writings, a link for simple, effective supplementation, and LiveWell, a self paced guide out of diet culture, go to https://www.sonyakathryn.online/

See you there!

For the original dayenu lyrics, see: https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/255530/jewish/Dayenu.htm