Dayenu
I have an obligation to use words. I try to use them to inspire. I try to use them to connect with other people. I try to use them to enhance what you already know.
I do still write sermons every week - you may have noticed that there is usually an intro to the service - which may or may not have anything to do with the sermon that comes later in the service. It isn't always easy, because I feel like I should try to say words that help, and not create conflict or offend. During the pandemic I want to say the "right" thing to help people heal. I still don't know what that is.
It has been even more difficult because of the divisions in our country and in the world. Disagreements have not caused us to talk to each other so that we understand each other, rather so many people seem to just get mean. It is very intimidating to try to use the right words when people are being mean to each other.
Then we had an inauguration of a new U.S. President and Vice-President. Change brings new uncertainties. With each inauguration, with each change, I try to watch to see what happens. Change is inevitable, but it is not always bad. It is not always what we expected. Waiting for the unknown is not easy sometimes. You know me well enough to know that whatever happens, I try to find the good... the blessings.
It has been very difficult for me to find the right words, but when I think I find something to say, I try to share it. I don't use most social media (no tweeting or instagram or tiktok, etc.) I do have a Facebook page, and I posted one word after the inauguration. It was interesting to see people's reactions. I loved that everyone saw it in a different way.
I wrote: "Dayenu." I was only going to write it in Hebrew, but decided I should also write the transliteration. I wasn't going to explain what I meant. However, after seeing some responses (especially the ones that were political), I wrote this:
It is interesting to see how people understood my post. Dayenu moments - I think - are opportunities to realize that there is always something to appreciate. In the Seder we sing that being freed from Egypt would have been enough for us; crossing the Sea of Reeds would have been enough for us; standing at Sinai would have been enough for us... there are so many things in life that could be "enough for us" ("Dayenu"). Remember to appreciate it all. Do you want Dayenu to be about political things - Dayenu! Do you want it to be about waking up - Dayenu! Do you want it to be about having friends of Facebook - Dayenu! I don't think that any of the Dayenu moments are about trying to make things different than what they are, it is about appreciating things or events. Once you acknowledge a Dayenu... I suspect there will be another one soon....