A Gazan Explains Why Palestinians Are Risking Their Lives to Protest Hamas
“Hamas’s cruelty over the past eighteen months is merely the culmination of eighteen years of its brutal rule.”
March 31, 2025
The Origins of “Dayenu” as an Answer to Pharoah
A new theory about the meaning of Passover’s most popular song.
Yesterday was the first day of the month of Nissan, during which Passover falls, and it’s thus not too soon to begin discussing the holiday and its rituals. Among the best known segments of the Haggadah is the song Dayenu, whose title and refrain mean “It would have been enough for us.” The prayer’s origins, Stuart Halpern explains, have long confounded historians, with some dating it to the Second Temple era, others supposing it a polemical response to an anti-Jewish work by the 2nd-century bishop Melito of Sardis, and yet others giving it an even later date. In a new book, Jay Rovner presents a new theory:
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Login or SubscribeMarch 31, 2025
Iran’s Role in Planning the October 7 Attacks
Captured documents provide details about funding and training.
The History of the Shin Bet and the Laws That Govern It
Some background to the current controversy.
The Origins of “Dayenu” as an Answer to Pharoah
A new theory about the meaning of Passover’s most popular song.
The Unstoppable Cynthia Ozick
In a Yellow Wood.