Why Jonah?

Maya Bernstein has written about the four traditional reasons why we read the Book of Jonah on Yom Kippur at the afternoon  mincha service (MyJewishLearning.com, 9/25/17).

            The first is that the story of Jonah’s travel and disobedience  reminds us of God’s infinite mercy. If God could forgive Jonah, of course God can forgive us.

            The second Rabbinic response is related to Yom Kippur’s most profound theme of teshuva. Again, the people of Nineveh offer a paradigm of repentance, a model for us as we struggle through the day.

            Third, the Book of Jonah reminds us that the entire world is in God’s hand. The wind, the kikayon plant, the sea, and the great fish are all used by God in this story.

            Finally, according to the Mishnah in Brachot 6a, mincha time is believed to be especially poignant for having our prayers answered.  As we read of Jonah being answered from the belly of the fish, we are reminded that we too can be saved, even as the day begins to wane.

            Bernstein points out that there is something more to this book and Yom Kippur.  Much like life, it is a book of contradictions and ends in an unanswered question.

            The Sages themselves question who Jonah really was, and when the book was written. Was he swallowed by a big fish, or is that a metaphor of imagination?  There is constant tension in this brief book: between sleep and wakefulness, up and down, an acceptance of God and an evasion of Him, an acceptance of mission and an evasion of mission, good and bad, compassion and hate, a desire for mercy, and a desire for truth.

            We read this book as we stand before God in the hours just before Yom Kippur concludes. We are hungry, we are thirsty, and we are tired of facing down our fears. At this time during the Yom Kippur experience, we are all Jonah. We long to be undisturbed, to be left alone. But we know that the Gates are closing and that we cannot give in to the desire to cease our self-examination and prayer.

            Jonah’s riddles remain unsolved. And so, we, Jonah-like, enter the service as he entered the fish, and insecurely call out to our Creator for salvation. Perhaps our call will be heard.

            May all of us be sealed in the Book of life, health, prosperity, and hope.