This year will mark eleven years, and my eighth Pesach in Eretz Yisrael, in which I have emailed, as it has become tradition with me from prior to my Aliyah, the rendition of Dayenu quoted from the book “Dear Brothers.” In each year, Dayenu holds a unique perspective, unlike the perspective of any previous year.
This theme of Dayenu is ever more timely now, this year in the days before Pesach 5766 here in Eretz Yisrael. Last year, an evil Israeli regime carried out a modern-day expulsion of 9,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and the Shomron. Our worst fears came to fruition, our brothers were ousted from their homes at legalized gunpoint, robbed of all of their possessions and assets; the promised compensation not forthcoming — not then, not over the ensuing eight months, probably never. And during the recently completed campaign, the Jews were given a taste at Amona of what another evil regime led by the trial balloon man of the previous regime intends; they now boast of a replay of Gush Katif within 2 years — this time that 80,000 Jews will be ousted from their homes, with their property and assets stolen just as was previously done in Gush Katif and the 4 Shomron towns. And undoubtedly, if not stopped, the evil ones will move to oust Jews from other parts of Eretz Yisrael — Beit El, Shilo, Jerusalem’s Old City, etc. There would then be not contiguity between Jerusalem and Ma’alei Adumim, but rather Yudenrein. And soon we would be but a few enclaves hugging the sea. That is the reality of the term called “convergence”.
And so, the lessons of Dayenu are vital now, just as they were in the first year that I emailed this vort out or, for that matter, as vital as they were when it was quoted in Segal’s compilation of the book in its copyright year 1988.
Dayenu!!!
My Introduction;
In the Book “Dear Brothers”, the story is told how Pesach 5738 (1968) was approaching when the first group of Pioneers endeavored to establish themselves in Chevron. Among this hearty group were Rabbis Haim Druckman, Eliezer Waldman, Moshe Levinger, Shlomo Aviner and others.
We pick up the story as the participants, “Sixty people sat down to that historical
first Seder…” in Chevron.
“Another participant was the author Moshe Shamir, formerly affiliated with the leftist Hashomer Hatzair(the Young Guard). As he did with each of the celebrants during the Seder, Rabbi Druckman asked Shamir to make some comments appropriate to the festival. The others braced themselves for the minor unpleasantness that was sure to result…”
But at every Seder since then; other guests have repeated the Drosh that Moshe Shamir delivered that first Passover Seder in Chevron and so I try to give it over each year to my friends and relatives on Pesach via the Internet(MB).
“The fourteen verses in the song Dayenu (It would have sufficed) have drawn the attention of the commentators throughout the ages. Why should we imply that we could forgo even one of the gifts given to us by Hashem three thousand years ago? How would we have gotten along at all without every one of them? The truth is that this part of the Haggadah has only one aim: to teach us how each and every generation of Jews tends to settle for the achievements of the past, to settle for what its forefathers had accomplished — and to rest on its laurels, with no aspiration for anything not achieved thus far. We, too, right here have that same tendency to say Dayenu — ‘It would have sufficed for us.’ The State of Israel? Dayenu. Unified Jerusalem and liberated Hebron ? Dayenu. Wasn’t it just last year at the Seder that we said, ‘If Hashem had given us Israel but had not given us Jerusalem and Hebron — dayenu? That’s why we’ve got to know that we’ll be facing many more ‘dayenus’ until we reach full redemption.”
The book recounts that Rabbi Druckman stood up and kissed Shamir’s forehead.
The commentary in the Artscroll Pesach Haggadah speaks about Dayenu in this way; “…The bondage of our forefathers was two-fold — physical and spiritual — and so was their redemption. The physical bondage came to an end on Pesach night, but the spiritual redemption reached it’s climax only with the building of the Temple and Hashem’s self-revelation in his sanctuary.”
“Every step on the road to this ultimate goal was a further act of Divine kindness to us, a further revelation of Hashem’s majesty. That’s why we give thanks for each …favor (my word; kindness) bestowed upon us. For every single step, we say Dayenu — it would have sufficed by itself to give our thanks (attributed to Malbim).”
This does not mean that any one step would have sufficed by itself to bring us to our goal. It does mean, however, that each of the happenings of Yetziyat Mitzrayim, Giving of Torah at Har Sinai, the travels through Bamidbar, entry of the Jewish People into Eretz Yisrael through to the building of the Beit HaMikdash “represented a new remarkable miracle — …that Hashem need not have performed these miracles if he had not seen a particular purpose for each. Dayenu seems to mean recognizing the great chessed that Hashem has done for us with every gift that he has given to the Jewish people from Yetziyat Mitzrayim until now as well as the chessed inherent in the gifts yet to come — Moshiach, Ge’ula Shlaima, Torah leadership and government and an end to the current cruel, brutal, heartless, totalitarian, dictatorial rulers.
So, too, in our time the road continues for B’nai Yisrael. Entebbe, Israel’s successful bombing of the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor, Gulf War 1, The 5 1/2 years of the “Oslo” War, 9/11, growing concern with an Iranian Nuclear Reactor, and the Roadmap/Seperation wall/Expulsion machinations of the current medina, the current government of Israel … — these are physical, political road.
And the spiritual road leading to Jewish self-esteem?? It is travelled by way of tefillos and Avodat Hashem, as well by striving for the perceived “unachievable”; both inward and outward expressions and manifestations of limitless love for our fellow Jew and for our Holy Land.
We tend to function, each in our own domain first and foremost. We operate out of expediency — in Davening, at the place of business, dealing with our families. We, in our autos, speed past our brother, ignoring his welfare or that he has his finger out. We see our brother running to catch a bus and don’t make an effort, on his behalf, to get the driver to wait that extra second. Instead we give our brother a blank countenance as we are only self-concerned. We are not totally forthcoming and truthful with our brother concerning the facts of a business or banking transaction often putting “obstacles in the way of the blind” as we grub for that last shekel at the other guy’s expense. We give and take bribes — protexia at all levels, if it’ll increase our personal influence, our place in history or our position on “the bottom line.” And we are totally blase’ about OUR Land — Eretz Yisrael, so much so that we continue, business as usual, even as we are in mortal danger from the evil dictatorship controlling affairs of state turning a blind eye and deaf ear to their constituency, their fellow Jews. And each group has an agenda working against every other group thereby dividing us all and letting the evil ones “divide and conquer.”
And so, there is the old adage that a Government is but a mirror image of the people it leads. I hold that the purity and freshness of our Tefillah, Avodah, Mitzvot as well as our outward displays of unity and love for our brethren are directly related to Dayenu. These outward displays of unity are manifested by fighting in every way the current anti-Torah, cruel decrees of the evil regime and it’s mega-evil “justice system” in order that every believing Jew grasp the true extent of the evil contemplated against them.
time.”
May it be in this year and beyond, that our brethren; the refugee families from Gush Katif and the Shomron (may they soon be restored to new homes and neighborhoods, Bati Knesset, Yeshivot in Gush Katif and the Shomron and only happiness and success for all time), as well as our dear brother, Jonathan Pollard (may he soon know freedom and long life in Eretz Yisrael) be central in our thoughts, prayers, chassadim and actions. May this abominable period of history called hitnatkut be as a bad dream.
May we be zocha in this coming year to take giant steps toward fulfilling Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, “Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Yom Tov! Chag kosher V’Same’ach!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of the Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
re: Moshe Shamir. He was a great man, and considering where he came from, a tzaddik, even more than Noach. We were at a big ceremony a few years ago, soon before he passed away. It was in honor of Bibi’s father, who had republished a book about the 5 or 6 “founder Zionists.” Besides the Prof. Netanyahu and son, Bibi, also Moshe Shamir spoke. He critized the book! He said that it was missing a very important element, one of the religious Zionists, who, according to him contributed no less than any of the men included.
Chag Kasher V’Sameach