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Dayenu (Hebrew: דַּיֵּנוּ‎, Dayyēnū) is a song that is part of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word "dayenu" means approximately "it would have been enough," "it would have been sufficient," or "it would have sufficed" (day- in Hebrew is "enough," and -ēnu the first person plural suffix, "to us"). This traditional upbeat Passover song is over one thousand years old.

The earliest full text of the song occurs in the first medieval haggadah, which is part of the ninth-century Seder Rav Amram. The song is about being grateful to God for all of the gifts given to the Jewish people, such as taking them out of slavery, giving them the Torah and Shabbat, and had God only given one of the gifts, it would have still been enough. This is to show much greater appreciation for all of them. The song appears in the Haggadah after the telling of the story of the exodus and just before the explanation of Passover, matzah, and the maror.

Stanzas

Dayenu has 15 stanzas representing the 15 gifts God bestowed. The first five involve freeing the Jews from slavery, the next describe the miracles He did for them, and the last five for the closeness to God He gave them. Each stanza is followed by dayenu "it would have been enough", sung repeatedly. The 15 stanzas are as follows:

Five stanzas of leaving slavery

1. If He had brought us out of Egypt
2. If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians
3. If He had executed justice upon their gods
4. If He had slain their first-born
5. If He had given to us their wealth

Five stanzas of miracles

6. If He had split the sea for us
7. If He had led us through on dry land
8. If He had drowned our oppressors
9. If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years
10. If He had fed us manna

Five stanzas of being with God

11. If He had given us Shabbat
12. If He had led us to Mount Sinai
13. If He had given us the Torah
14. If He had brought us into the Land of Israel
15. If He built the Temple for us

Text

Associated customs

Jews in Afghanistan and Iran hit each other over the head with green onions during the refrain beginning with the ninth stanza (Even if you had supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years but not provided us with manna). This may be due to a passage in Numbers 11:5–6, where the Israelites see manna and recall Egypt. "We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all. Nothing but this manna to look at." It is thought that by beating each other with the onions they taught themselves not to yearn for Egypt or to forget Egyptian slavery.

In popular culture

• Independent Israeli guitarist and singer Udi Davidi recorded a modern rendition of "Dayenu" on his 2006 album entitled "Back To You" (חוזר אליך‎).
• Pianist Richard Dworsky did a rendition of the song "Dayenu" every year during Passover on the public radio program A Prairie Home Companion.
• In Israeli screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, after the line "if only we hadn't made this journey... if only the car hadn't broken down... oh, if only we were amongst friends... Or sane persons," the audience sings the chorus of "Dayenu".
• In the episode "Free to Be You and Me" of Supernatural, Dean tells the angel Castiel "Dayenu" as if the situation they are in is destined to be.
• Near the beginning of the 2013 videogame BioShock Infinite, a preacher recites a spoken sermon in a form identical to the song ("If he had done this, but not this, it would have been enough"), but in praise of the game's major antagonist rather than of God.
• In 2015, The Maccabeats, an a cappella group at Yeshiva University, released a Passover music video featuring a mashup of "Dayenu" which incorporated eight different musical motifs, including doo-wop, polka, heavy metal, funk, hip-hop, "island", dubstep, and barbershop quartet.
• "Dayenu" was used to explain the final game of the 2016 World Series that gave the Chicago Cubs a win after 108 years of drought.
• Kiko Argüello, the founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, composed a song called "Dayenu", replacing the original text with a Christian one.
• A version sung by Moishe Oysher was included in Nina Paley's Seder-Masochism.
• The staff of The Wieners Circle hot dog stand in Chicago sing "Dayenu" to customers in a NSFW video from 2007.

See also

• Music of Israel
• Jewish prayer

References

1. Ben-Amos, Dan; Noy, Dov, eds. (2006). Folktales of the Jews: Tales from Eastern Europe. Vol. II. Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 383. ISBN 9780827608306.
2. "Dayeinu — Is It Ever Enough?". Haggadahs-R-Us. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
3. "Back to you". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
4. "Music Information: A Perfectly Good Wilderness". April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
5. "Supernatural s05e03 Episode Script". Retrieved April 24, 2019.
6. Bioshock Infinite: Preacher's Sermon and Terrifying Baptism. Retrieved May 15, 2020 - via Youtube
7. Rosenblum, Jonah L. (April 20, 2016). "Passover songs to please the soul – and get a chuckle". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
8. Waxman, Olivia B. (March 30, 2015). "Watch an A Cappella Group Perform 'Dayenu' in 8 Totally Different Musical Styles". Time. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
9. Wiener, Julie (March 30, 2015). "Maccabeats don lederhosen for Passover". JTA. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
10. Keri, Jonah (November 3, 2016). "Absurd Cubs-Indians World Series Game 7 was everything we love about baseball". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
11. Dayenú - Kiko Argüello. Apr 23, 2017. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2019 – via YouTube.

External links

• Listen to Dayenu online

• Songs in Hebrew
• Passover songs
• List songs
• Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings