Page 13 - Mizrachi RZC Sefer Berachot 5778 (2017-2018)

After all, if Hashem had brought us out of Egypt but not split the sea, surely we
would have all died at the hands of the advancing Egyptian army?
If Hashem had split the sea but not given us food and water, surely we would have
all died of starvation and heat exhaustion in the desert? It is abundantly clear that
each single stage is inherently incomplete without the continuation and realization of
the stage which follows. If the process of redemption would have got stuck at any
one of the 14 stages, it most certainly ‘would not have been enough’. The aim and
purpose of the redemption from Egypt would not have been achieved and the process
would have been a failure.

An Attitude of Gratitude
The answer to this question is to understand the very essence of what gratitude and
saying ‘thank you’ is all about. In it lies the crux of the song and its relevance for us
today. If our only focus in life is one of goal orientation, then we will never be able
to feel appreciation for anything until we have achieved our goal. If we focus
incessantly on the final purpose of any process, the destination of every journey, the
aim and achievements of every undertaking, we will find it exceptionally difficult to
appreciate each stage of the journey itself. If the purpose of the Dayeinu song was to
celebrate reaching the goal of redemption then indeed ‘it never would have been
enough’.

The Dayeinu song is about a different frame of mind – the mindset of gratitude and
appreciation. When we focus on each stage of the process itself and not on the end
result, we are able to appreciate every small step. When we see how far we have
come as opposed to how far there is to go, what we have as opposed to what we
still lack, we are able to feel deep gratitude irrespective of whether we have
achieved our final aim or not. The word Dayeinu in this song means ‘it would have
been enough to say thank you’. Hence, if Hashem had brought us out of Egypt but
not split the sea, this miraculous act of freedom and liberty would have been enough
for us to thank Him for a taste of freedom and dignity against all odds irrespective of
what the future holds. If Hashem would have split the sea but we would have died of
starvation and heat exhaustion soon afterwards, we ought still to thank Him for
having experienced the unparalleled marvel of the splitting the sea and the sense of
Divine justice with the destruction of the Egyptian oppressors.

It is for this reason that the song focuses also on the final destination of the journey
of redemption which began in Egypt – the arrival in the Land of Israel and the
building of the Temple. This long and arduous journey, which would wind itself
through 15 stages and 480 years until the building of the Temple in Solomon’s time,
should never prevent us from fully appreciating every step of the way.