If Hashem had given us Chevron, Beit El, Shilo, and the Golan Heights, But not allowed us to liberate the Old City of Yerushalayim,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had allowed us to liberate the Old City of Yerushalayim, But not allowed us to rebuild her ruins,
Dayenu– it would have been enough.
If Hashem had allowed us to rebuild His Old City, But not made Jerusalem into Israel’s largest city with a population of over 800,000 people,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had made Jerusalem Israel’s largest city with a population of over 800,000 people, But not allowed us to live with dignity in secure borders,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had allowed us to live in secure borders, But not created a strong and sustainable economy,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had built for us a strong and sustainable economy, But not ingathered the exiles from almost a hundred countries,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had ingathered the exiles from almost a hundred countries, But not allowed us to rebuild the Torah world in Israel with well over a hundred thousand men and women studying Torah full-time, perhaps the most in Jewish history,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had rebuilt the yeshiva and Torah world, But not produced so many outstanding Torah scholars and leaders,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had produced so many outstanding Torah scholars and leaders, But not opened the gates of freedom to the oppressed Russian and Ethiopian Jews,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
If Hashem had opened the gates of freedom to the oppressed Russian and Ethiopian Jews, But not made Israel’s Jewish population soon-to-be larger than that of world Jewry for the first time in 2,500 years,
Dayenu – it would have been enough.
* * * * *
Israel is, for many people, still distant from the ideal spiritual and moral country it could become, yet there is great and undeniable value in having a Jewish state.
We live in a world where threats against the Jewish people are no distant reality. Anti-Semitism on U.S. campuses is increasing (often under the guise of anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rhetoric), while the BDS movement proliferates globally, providing significant support to anti-Israel NGOs. The vitriol throughout Europe toward Jews is becoming more dangerous for us.
But now, for the first time in 2,000 years, we have our own land, our own government, our own industry, our own military, and more.
Of course there is more to achieve and to pray for, but every step of the way is an ongoing miracle. So much so that the Chief Rabbinate designated Yom Ha’Atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim as days of Hallel and thanksgiving to express heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the enormity of the miracles we have experienced, despite the fact that many stages of redemption still remain.
In Israel on Yom Ha’Atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, thousands of people gather together in shuls across the country to celebrate and express our gratitude to Hashem. The energy is palpable. People literally dance in the streets, singing, waving flags. They visibly and audibly express that “Attitude of Gratitude” for the miracle of a Jewish homeland. On these days, the words of King David from Psalm 126, which we sing on Shabbat, on festivals, and on happy occasions resonate:
When the Lord brought back the exiles of Zion we were like people who dream. Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.
