By Cathy Hird
The Jewish celebration of Passover begins this Friday at sunset. Back when I lived in Montreal, I had a friend who always included me in the first seder of Passover. Usually there was one other gentile and the Jewish family who lived upstairs at the meal. In those days, I was studying Hebrew and could read the Haggadah, the prayers and liturgies of remembrance, though I needed the translation to understand it.

The opening handwashing and candle lighting brought me a moment of peace and centring. The meal and conversation that we shared was delightful. In the ritual itself, my favourite part was the recitation known as Dayenu. This retelling of the events that led to the Exodus from Egypt expresses the abundance of G-d's gift, the humble recogniztion that G-d did and does so much more than we could expect. At least that is what the declaration "it would have been enough for us" meant to me. I have read that this traditional song is at least a thousand years old. It appears in a number of forms but let me share what I remember of it. Dayenu means "enough for us".

(A short aside. When writing about Judaism, I honour the sense that even the name of G-d can be a form of idolatry. The practice of leaving out the vowel, as is done in Hebrew with the four letter name of G-d, reminds me that the divine presence cannot be encompassed in human expressions. Every Hebraic version of this song that I have seen uses "He". While in my worship leadership, I never use a pronoun for G-d because the divine does not have a single gender, I am going to use "He" in honour of the tradition I experienced.)

If He had sent the plague of serpents and not the plague of blood, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

If He had sent the plague of frogs and not the plague of flies, dayenu. it would have been enough for us!

If He had sent the plague of flies and not the plague of boils, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

If He had sent the plague of boils and not the plague of locusts, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

In the version I remember we went through all the plagues including the smiting of the first born, the one that led to the Exodus. Then,

If He had brought us out of Egypt and not split the sea for us, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

If He had split the sea for us, and not made it dry land, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

If He had split the sea for us, and not sent us manna in the desert, dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

If He had sent the manna in the desert and not given us the Torah, dayenu it would have been enough for us!

....and there can and perhaps should be more of the story leading to the return to the land of their forefathers. The repetition is powerful and for me, a humbling remembrance of G-d's grace.

One of the preparations for the Passover that I helped my friend with is the removal of all leaven from the house. A complete house cleaning happens, and the kitchen is cleansed of all products that have yeast or baking soda or any other leaven in them. This instruction is a reminder that the people had to leave all of a sudden, had no time to leaven their bread.

For my friend, a single mother living on a minimal income, this could have been a hardship. Replacing the baking soda and the baking powder, the yeast and the crackers would have cost more than she had to spare. So I would buy it from her. For the length of the festival, she and her daughter went without. But then she would buy it back from me, and go back to making her own bread and biscuits. A compromise of sorts, but a recognition that the rules were not meant to punish the poor.

Passover is an ancient celebration with particular cultural and family traditions as well as the practices set by Torah. It overlaps with Easter because as a Jew, Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples. May all of the celebrations that take place this week honour God and be a blessing to those who join them.

Cathy Hird is a farmer, minister and writer living near Walters Falls.