Background At first glance Dayyenu is a strange poem. What does it mean to say that each of these divine acts of grace is “enough for us?” Would it really have been enough for God to take us out of Egypt but not allow us to cross the Red Sea? Would it have been enough to bring us to Mount Sinai but not give us the Torah once we got there? So we are left wondering: what makes each of these acts of divine favor so significant and important that even if this was all that God had done for us we would be able to say, “Dayyenu?” Rabbi Lorberbaum explores each statement in this poem and answers the question: How were these acts Dayyenu, enough for us? And in what way could we have lived without some of these gifts from God? Each statement is presented in the positive and the negative. We are told that it would had been enough and we are also told that if God had not done this act (but only another) that too would have been enough. Rabbi Lorberbaum explores both sides of these statements. Had He performed judgments…It would have been enough: As we have already seen in the passage Avadim Hayyinu, the nature of God’s acts in Egypt created a unique relationship between God and the Israel. By performing these acts of judgment, God made a public commitment to the Jewish people. This commitment was irrevocable. Even if Israel sinned, as they did at the Golden Calf, God could not completely desert the Jewish people. If God was to desert the nation or destroy them, it would not only be a tragedy for Israel but a Hillul Hashem, a desecration of God’s name in the world. God’s judgments of others and His acts on behalf of the Jewish people made it clear to the whole world that we are “the children of the living God.” By simply performing these acts of judgments, then, God made it so that no matter what happened He was committed to Israel.