Dayenu

Ilu ho-tsi, ho-tsi-a-nu, 

Ho-tsi-a-nu mi-Mitz-ra-yim, 

Ho-tsi-a-nu mi-Mitz-ra-yim, 

Da-ye-nu!

.. CHORUS: 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu! 

.. 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Dai, da-ye-nu, 

.. Da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu!

Ilu na-tan, na-tan la-nu, 

Na-tan la-nu et-ha-Sha-bat, 

Na-tan la-nu et-ha-Sha-bat, 

Da-ye-nu!

.. (CHORUS)

Ilu na-tan, na-tan la-nu, 

Na-tan la-nu et-ha-To-rah, 

Na-tan la-nu et-ha-To-rah, 

Da-ye-nu!

.. (CHORUS) 

(A singable English version:)

Had Gpd brought all, brought all of us, brought all of us 

out from Egypt, 

then it would have been enough. Oh, dayenu.

Chorus: 

Da-da-yeinu_____, da-da-yeinu_____, da-da-yeinu_____, 

dayeinu, dayeinu, dayeinu.

(repeat)

Had God given, given to us, given to us all the Sabbath, 

then it would have been enough. Oh, dayenu.

Chorus

Had God given, given to us, given to us all the Torah, 

then it would have been enough. Oh, dayenu.

Chorus 

Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham, the first person to have the idea that maybe all those little statues his contemporaries worshiped as gods were just statues. The idea of one God, invisible and all-powerful, inspired him to leave his family and begin a new people in Canaan, the land that would one day bear his grandson Jacob’s adopted name, Israel.

God had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise came with a frightening vision of the troubles along the way: “Your descendants will dwell for a time in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years; however, I will punish the nation that enslaved them, and afterwards they shall leave with great wealth."

Please Raise your glass and say:

וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ וְלָֽנוּ

V’hi she-amda l’avoteinu v’lanu.

This promise has sustained our ancestors and us.

For not only one enemy has risen against us to annihilate us, but in every generation there are those who rise against us. But God saves us from those who seek to harm us.

You may lower your glass.

In the years our ancestors lived in Egypt, our numbers grew, and soon the family of Jacob became the People of Israel. Pharaoh and the leaders of Egypt grew alarmed by this great nation growing within their borders, so they enslaved us. We were forced to perform hard labor, perhaps even building pyramids. The Egyptians feared that even as slaves, the Israelites might grow strong and rebel. So Pharaoh decreed that Israelite baby boys should be drowned, to prevent the Israelites from overthrowing those who had enslaved them.

But God heard the cries of the Israelites. And God brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with great awe, miraculous signs and wonders. God brought us out not by angel or messenger, but through God’s own intervention.