If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgements on them; [it would have been] enough for us. (Passover Haggadah)

One of the highlights of the haggadah is singing “Dayeinu” in which we thank Hashem for all the many kindnesses he did for Klal Yisrael. The meforshim go to great lengths to explain the significance of each one of them and why there are so many of them.

Some compare this to being a guest at a meal. When the guest thanks the hostess by saying “Thank you for the delicious meal,” she will be happy that the guest at least acknowledged the work she put into it. But if the guest enumerates each individual course and each item in the course, the hostess will feel that the guest truly appreciated her work. Not only that, but a guest who gives a simple “thank you” doesn’t necessarily internalize the gratitude he ought to have for the hostess, whereas when gives a detailed “thank you,” the guest himself comes to recognize the amount of work that went into the meal, and then the gratitude will truly well up in his heart.

This is in sync with the theme of the night – “And anyone who adds [and spends extra time] in telling the story of the exodus from Egypt, he is praiseworthy.” The idea of recognizing the good (hakares hatov) is the backdrop of celebrating the exodus from Egypt, which is done through Hallel (twice) and according to many through Maggid as well. The Seder night is the night to go all out in everything we do. Pharaoh lacked hakares hatov for Yosef, and the Torah expresses this explicitly (“A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph…{Shemos 1:8}). We find the opposite behavior in Moshe: When charged by Hashem to take the Jews out, he would not go until he got permission from his father-in-law. The Medrash tells us Moshe was indebted to his father-in-law and had to ask permission because Yisro took him in. This is true even though Yisro had his own intentions when he opened his home to Moshe. Reb Meir Chodosh zatzal points out: Yisro was unable to obtain any workers because he was ostracized from his community due to his beliefs; Moshe seemed to be a responsible and strong, ready-to-work son-in-law. What more could a man with seven daughters hope for!?

I would like to mention at this time in particular – just over a year since the start of the COVID challenges – that we too experienced our own Exodus from Egypt with the help of Hashem. The mekubalim tells us that the word “mitzrayim” means boundaries, and we all certainly felt restricted when we were locked down, either as an entire population, or individually in quarantine. While it is not within our power to formally add to the haggadah and mention our own personal salvation, I think it is our responsibility to express our thanks. Not only for the past, but also for future opportunities. Most people believe that the fact that they are alive today, despite a pandemic that moved about indiscriminately, means that they were saved by a miracle. For that alone we should say “Dayeinu”! But not only that, Hashem has also offered us the opportunity to sit around the seder table this year with more than just the immediate family.

On this night of salvation, we must look into ourselves to see what we can do to show our appreciation to Hashem. If we indeed open our doors and share our meal with those who are needy, we will be showing that we really want to do what Hashem wants, though it may be uncomfortable. Last year I was plagued with many questions from people who did not have a location for the seder, and other who wanted to host but were afraid. Perhaps this year if we open our doors indiscriminately–and open our hearts fully–to let in people who are not part of our immediate family, then when we open the door saying “shefoch chamascha…” we might be able to greet Eliyahu Hanavi himself.