We can accept either but not neither! – it would have been enough (Dayenu)

Submitted by Dr Tony Klug

If “Justice, justice, shalt thou pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20) – the repetition signifying that justice must be pursued with justice — had been the sole Jewish contribution to human civilization, it would have been enough.    “Dayenu ….”

If “Let my people go” (Exodus 9:1) – inspiring generations of oppressed peoples struggling for freedom, most notably African-American slaves — had been the sole Jewish contribution to human civilization, it would have been enough. “Dayenu ….”

If “God created humankind in his own image” (Genesis 1:27) — affirming the inherent equality of all people — had been the sole Jewish contribution to human civilization, it would have been enough.   “Dayenu ….”

If “Seek peace, and pursue it” (Psalms 34:14) – embodied in the age-old Jewish greeting “Shalom” — had been the sole Jewish contribution to human civilization, it would have been enough.    “Dayenu ….”

Justice, freedom, equality, peace — time-honoured Jewish values — lie at the existential core of Jewish identity and provide the essential cement that binds together Jews of many different persuasions. Jews have proudly espoused these principles historically for themselves and others. If a contemporary state claims to be Jewish – while failing to uphold these fundamental values — it is not enough.

If that state expects a perverse solidarity from Jews around the world – implicating them in such an unbridled, un-Jewish, injustice as potentially withholding basic human rights to millions of people indefinitely — it is not enough.

If, on the other hand, the self-proclaimed Jewish state imminently ends its fifty-year occupation of the lands and lives of the Palestinians, so that both peoples may equally exercise their national rights in good neighbourliness, it would be (nearly) enough.

If Israel, alternatively, extends equal rights to everyone who is subject to its current jurisdiction – if only until there is a final, agreed resolution of the conflict — it would be (nearly) enough.

We can accept either but not neither!