January 15, 2021

It would have been enough

I’m not religious. I think of Judaism as my wonderful culture and heritage, but I stay pretty clear of organized religion. I’m more of a lox and bagel, chopped liver kind of Jew.

However, I do love to celebrate Passover with a big Seder, lots of friends, food and wine. But I won’t serve or drink Manischewitz. I’d be afraid people driving home from our Seder would be pulled over and register a .08 blood sugar level. At our house we serve a good Cote du Rhone. And that’s my take on religion.

Except, at Seder we sing or chant the Hebrew word “Dayenu.” I like the word. It’s roughly translated to mean “it would have been enough” or “It would have been sufficient.”

With Donald Trump impeached for the second time and the world reeling from the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol, I think about the past five years and my personal Dayenu list — events that should have been sufficient to disqualify Trump from ever holding the presidency.

Even a single incident on this list would have been a great big Dayenu and more than enough to derail the career of any other politician. But Trump survived. I don’t know why. But I know these would have been sufficient:

• He bragged about grabbing pussy and doing anything he wanted because he’s a celebrity. Dayenu;
• He paid off a porn star to keep quiet about an affair and quite possibly used campaign funds to do it. Dayenu.
• He accepted help from a foreign nation to denigrate an American candidate for the presidency and assist him in winning the election. Dayenu;
• He mocked a disabled reporter. Dayenu;
• He refused to let an interpreter or a secretary in the room to translate and write down his conversations with Vladimir Putin. Deyenu;
• - He bribed a foreign nation to investigate a political opponent. Dayenu;
• He enacted violent and inhuman policies for border security that separated parents from their children and put people in cages. Dayenu;
• He said there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville. Nazis are good people? Dayenu;
• He lied when he invented THE BIG LIE and proclaimed himself as winner of the 2020 election. Dayenu;
• He tried everything he could think of to overturn the 2020 election by fomenting conspiracy theories, stoking hatred, and encouraging a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol and the legislators at work there — in order to stop the certification of the free and fair election. Dayenu

Oh, there was so much more. But Dayenu. Any one these actions would have been sufficient. But together, ENOUGH!

I look forward to next Wednesday, January 20, to welcome President-Elect Joe Biden to the Oval Office. I cannot imagine the mess he will find in our government departments and cruel policies now in place. I wish him well in the restoration of our fragile democracy.

I’ll celebrate the inauguration with champagne. Or maybe a chocolate Egg Cream and a knish.

Biden won the election by seven million votes, 306 electors. If he had won by only one vote, I’d say Dayenu.

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