The Book of Jonah

The book of Jonah consists of four short chapters and while it is always better to read the book in its entirety, for purposes of today, I offer a brief summary to help us think about several key questions and themes.

Chapter I
God commands Jonah to deliver a prophetic message to Nineveh – to go to Nineveh to tell the inhabitants that their wickedness will cause the destruction of their city. Jonah then boards a ship headed in the opposite direction.
God brings a storm that threatens the survival of Jonah’s ship. Even after it becomes known that Jonah is the cause of this danger, the sailors, all of whom are gentiles, try to find a way to save not only the ship, but Jonah as well. When all else fails, they succumb to Jonah’s request to throw him overboard. Miraculously, the sea becomes calm!

Chapter II
God is clearly not finished with Jonah and sends a large fish to swallow him.During three days in the belly of the fish, Jonah is prayerful and reflective, but he does not recommit himself to his prophetic mission.
At God’s behest, the fish expels Jonah onto dry land.

Chapter III
God repeats his command that Jonah go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys. The people of Nineveh are remarkably receptive to the message to repent. They repent, and God retracts his decree against the city.

Chapter IV
Jonah complains to God about the futility of his mission. His mood is worse than grumpy; he is downright angry. He tells God in no uncertain terms that he knew that his mission would be futile and that God would change his mind when he says: “You are a compassionate God, endlessly patient, slow to anger, abounding in love, renouncing punishment.” (4:2) He is so bummed out that he asks God to take his soul, “for better is my death than my life.”

God teaches Jonah a lesson by means of a shade plant. The plant that protected him from the sun withers and dies. Jonah is faint, desperate, and prays, once again, for his death with the same words: “Better is my death than my life!”

This is the moral of the gourd plant that God attempts to teach Jonah: That if Jonah is so despondent about the plant, which he did not create or help grow, then how can he not understand how God would take pity on the city of Nineveh, in which more than 120,ooo people and thousands of animals live, after they have repented? (Nineveh is filled with God’s creation and God is directly involved with it, unlike Jonah’s non-relation to the plant.)

So, lets take a look at the story and see if we can unravel several basic questions that must be dealt with in any serious exploration of Jonah:
   1.   Why was Jonah unwilling to prophesy against Nineveh?
   2.   Why was he so angry at God?
   3.   What are we supposed to learn from the story of Jonah, particularly as it relates to Yom Kippur?

First I would like you to share something really remarkable that resides within the Hebrew words of the names Jonah and Nineveh. The Hebrew name for Nineveh is an anagram of Jonah’s Hebrew name. (In other words, the letters of the Jonah’s name – with one letter repeated – make up the name of Nineveh.) Since many scholars assume that the book of Jonah is an allegorical tale, I would like to suggest that Nineveh is really a projection of Jonah, as he sees himself. This idea, that Nineveh is a projection of Jonah, will help us answer the questions I posed:

   1.   Why was Jonah unwilling to prophesy against Nineveh?
   Jonah is a flawed man, he is real, he is human. Nineveh is a city that is wicked, corrupt: its people have sinned against themselves, each other and God. Jonah refuses to prophesize against Nineveh – to tell them that they will be destroyed unless they change their ways - because he has not yet accepted who he is. He hasn’t come to terms with his own flaws and shortcomings, and since he can’t do it himself, he knows deep down that he is an unworthy messenger, even though God had made the request. So, he does what many of us would do, he runs in the opposite direction of his fears.

   2.   Why does Jonah get so angry at God?
    Jonah is not able to accept God’s mercy and compassion for the people of Nineveh after they repent – in fact, it angers him! Why?
Throughout the story Jonah yearns for consistency, favoring strict justice over divine compassion. If we consider the Book of Jonah as an allegory, and that Nineveh is a projection of Jonah himself, it suggests that Jonah rejects God’s forgiveness of Nineveh because he is unable to forgive himself. He can’t really begin to forgive himself until he is able to look closely at who he is, about what he needs to work on, about how he has wronged himself and others. But, when he accepts who he is – a truly human and flawed person, he can begin to forgive himself. And when he forgives himself, he will be able to trust and accept God’s forgiveness of others.


   3.   What are we supposed to learn from the story of Jonah, particularly as it relates to Yom Kippur?
    And here is where it all comes together: The story of Jonah leads us to the heart Yom Kippur, the real meaning of the period from Rosh Hashanah until we blow the Shofar tonight for the last time.

Yom Kippur tells us that we have to begin with ourselves. We have to be open and honest, to be willing to look at where we have missed the mark, at the people we have disappointed or hurt this past year, at the times we have done less, loved less, given less and been less than we can be. And only after we have gone through this difficult and often painful process – in Hebrew called Heshbon Nefesh, or an accounting of the soul - only after we have approached others whom we have wronged and asked them for their forgiveness, only after we have reckoned with our God and asked for God’s forgiveness, can we then begin to forgive ourselves. And when we forgive ourselves, we will come to understand what Divine forgiveness, Divine mercy and Divine compassion are all about.

I’d like to close with a midrash, a lovely story, which sums up the Jewish view of God’s compassion towards us when we take steps to become better people.

The sages came before the people and they asked of the Torah: “How is the sinner to be punished?” The Torah replied, “Let him bring a sacrifice and he will be pardoned.”

They asked the prophets: “How is the sinner to be punished?” The prophets replied, “The person who sins,… he shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4).

They asked King David: “How is the sinner to be punished?” King David replied: “May sinners disappear from the earth and the wicked be no more.” (Ps. 104:35).

They asked Wisdom: “How is the sinner to be punished?” Wisdom replied, “Misfortune pursues sinners.” (Prov. 13:21).

They asked God, the Holy Blessed One: “How is the sinner to be punished?” And God reply: “Let him do repentance, and I will accept it, as it is written: ‘Good and upright is the Lord [; therefore He shows sinners the way]’ (Ps. 25:8).”

Amy Hirshberg Lederman
Tucson, Arizona

Amy Hirshberg Lederman, is an award-winning, nationally syndicated columnist, author, Jewish educator, public speaker and attorney who lives in Tucson, AZ.
   Read about her new book "To Life! Jewish Reflections on Everyday Living" at www.AmyHirshbergLederman.com