Jonah and the Whale

Today I came upon an article by my colleague and friend Rabbi Steven (Simcha) Bob on the website http://www.TheTorah.com which is of timely interest. On Yom Kippur afternoon we chant the Book of Jonah for our Haftorah. Perhaps better known as a children’s story, the Book of Jonah raises some profound theological issues. Rabbi Bob asks an intriguing question — Why does the “God of Israel” bother sending a prophet to a foreign city to warn them of their wickedness and ask them to repent? And not just any foreign city, but the city of Nineveh, the Assyrian capitol, the capital of the empire that is destined to destroy the Northen Kingdom of Israel in the year 721 BCE.

Rabbi Bob explores the views of four medieval Biblical commentators: Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak), Don Isaac Abravanel, The Malbim and Ibn Ezra. Reading the article helped me to answer two different questions: 1) Why did Jonah run away when G-d asked him to prophesize, and 2) why was Jonah so distraught when the people of Nineveh repented? After all, other prophets, most famously Moses, rejected their initial call by God, but none took the extraordinary step of running away with the exception of Jonah. Other prophets would have been thrilled if the people heeded their words (few did) but Jonah was crushed by his success with the people of Nineveh.

I invite you to read the article and write me with your thoughts. And please visit my website <www.rabbirudolph.online> for more about me and my writing. 

For an interesting novel about ancient Assyria I recommend All Our Broken Idols by Paul M.M. Cooper

Shana Tovah

Photo by Andrea Holien on Pexels.com