A SYNTHESIS OF THE PASSOVER RITUAL AND LITURGY
WITH THE TWELVE STEPS OF RECOVERY
By Reb Hershy W.
17
DAYAINU
Dayainu does not mean it would have been enough.
Rather, it would have been more than we deserved.
If we count our blessings here we find:
FIFTEEN REASONS FOR BEING GRATEFUL
1. He brought us out of Egypt.
Obviously our first gratitude is for the fact
that we are no longer trapped, enslaved to substances and habits. There
could be no growth so long as we were in Egypt.
2. It does not say He judged them, rather,
He did judgments among them.
The word "did", ASA refers to the most tangible
form of creativity the ultimate unfolding of Hashem's plans. Hashem is
not judgmental simply for its own sake. His judgments are very creative.
He did it for us, in order to show us the nature of our addiction and the
power of the lie in which we lived. Hashem exposed both the Egyptians and
their gods.
The creativity we refer to is undoubtedly the
humor and playfulness in the humiliation of the Egyptian gods.
4. He killed their firstborn.
This is the culmination of the first lesson. Slavery
means death. Addiction means death. The worship of ungods means death.
Let this be clear and unequivocal.
5. He gave us their money.
It does not say gave us their wealth, rather their
money. A medium of exchange, the dollar is a piece of green paper of little
value. But it represents agreement amongst people to maintain a monetary
system and all the cultural ramifications carries. For the system to be
successful, a stable balance of forces must exist in the marketplace.
The whole structure of economics that worked
so well for the Egyptians now came to work for us. It was a sane, peaceful,
rewarding system. The word chosen here to describe money MAMON, is unusual
in this context. One might have expected the word KESEPH, silver to be
used. Mamon does not appear in the story of the Exodus, whereas Keseph,
silver is mentioned often. We did not have to go through the hardship of
developing our own through scarcity and hardship and want. We didn't need
any more upheavals in our lives concerning mundane things. Poverty makes
Recovery difficult. We had enough on our hands without skyrocketing inflation
and a forced return to the barter system.
6. He split the Sea for us.
We might have had to fight a pitched battle with
them the way we did weeks later with the Amalekites. The Egyptians might
have found themselves drawn away to fight elsewhere against marauders,
or any number of other possibilities. Instead we were taught to surrender
and turn our will over to Hashem. That was good for us.
7. He passed through it on dry land.
We are not merely remarking that Hashem took care
of details. When the Red Sea split and we passed through it, we did not
walk through mud and swamp. Everything was as dry as a bone and the walk
was comfortable. We are really pointing out that Hashem is loving and caring.
The ungods we served in Egypt were many things, none of them loving and
caring or anticipating of our needs.
8. He drowned our oppressors in it.
Apparently it was very important to us to see
the Egyptians destroyed. Perhaps we were afraid that so long as they could
chase us they were incapable of letting go and we would have to battle
endlessly with them. Perhaps we ourselves could never let go until we saw
them utterly defeated. Whatever the reason, Hashem did drown them all in
the Sea.
9. He took care of our needs.
Forty years in the wilderness. Protected us from
sun and wind, snow and rain, snakes and scorpions. We were surrounded by
"Clouds of Glory" and never really lacked material things. We had our needs
met.
This was not just food. This was an entirely new
creation. A whole new species of long molecule, this was not some growth
or desert cacti. The Manna gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "Living
by the word of Hashem".
11. He gave us the Shabbos.
Shabbos is priceless, it is not a "Sabbath", or
day or rest. Only those who live it know what it feels like. To describe
it is fruitless. A marble statue has as much resemblance to a real person
as the common notion has to the true meaning of Shabbos. It is the pearl
of Hashem's treasury.
12. He brought us close to Mount Sinai.
This in itself was an enormous step for us. We
became willing to have all our defects of character removed. We were willing
to go to any lengths to do Hashem's will. We were entirely ready. What
higher spiritual peaks could we possibly have aimed for? We weren't just
present at Mount Sinai, we were close.
13. He gave us the Torah.
Not merely a jewel out of His treasury, Hashem
gave us the whole treasury.
14. He entered us into the Land of Israel.
15. Built us the "Chosen House" (Temple) to
atone for our sins.
Who mentioned sins? Sin is implicit in the way
we are. We aren't angels. We aren't expected to get it right the first
time or even the second time. We are going to keep failing. What matters
is progress, not perfection.
The Hebrew words chosen here to mean Temple
are BAIS HABECHIRA, literally translated as "House of Choice". An allusion
to the end product of the Exodus. We are no longer slaves because we have
a choice. The real distinction between the using addict and the recovering
addict is the power of choice. And so our gratitude list ends with thanks
for the gift of what is more commonly referred to as Free Will, freedom
to choose.