INTRODUCTION
The Book of Jonah is traditionally read on Yom Kippur afternoon. The theme is repentance, stressing that God forgives the sins of people who sincerely repent.

TEXT
"...You are a compassionate and gracious God, endlessly patient, abounding in love, renouncing punishment." (Jonah 4:2)

EXPLANATION
Jonah offers this statement as an explanation of why he tried to avoid going to Nineveh to preach the word of God.

INTERPRETATION
Jonah is told by God to go to the city of Nineveh to tell the inhabitants that their wickedness will cause the destruction of their city. Instead of obeying God, Jonah boards a ship bound in the opposite direction, hoping to escape from God's service. A terrible storm threatens the safety of the ship and the sailors determine that Jonah's actions have provoked God's anger. When they heave him overboard, the storm subsides. Jonah is swallowed by a big fish. He prays from within the fish's belly and after three days and nights, he is spit onto dry land. Jonah then travels to Nineveh and warns the people there that God intends to destroy the city in forty days. Everyone believes Jonah and they repent. God decides not to punish them and Jonah gets angry at God for forgiving them. In his anger, Jonah makes the above statement.

There are several different commentaries about why Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh to preach the word of God.

Abraham Ibn Ezra compared Jonah's reluctance to go to Nineveh with Moses' not wanting to accept God's instruction to return to Egypt and take the Israelites out of slavery. (Exodus 3:1, 3:10 and 3:13 are examples of Moses trying to tell God that he doesn't want the job!) However, the Israelites were God's chosen people. The Ninevites were not. Therefore, it may have seemed to Jonah that his task was far less important than the task that was given to Moses so he declined to do the work that God instructed.

The Mechilta, in Pesichta Bo, suggests that Jonah was trying to protect the Israelites, his own people, from God's anger. The Israelites were known to regularly ignore the words of various prophets of God and to continue to sin. If the Ninevites heeded Jonah's prophesy and repented, Jonah might have been afraid that God would punish the Israelites even more severely for their sins.

According to Rashi, Jonah was the anonymous prophet in the second Book of Kings who prophesied that God would destroy Jerusalem. When the people repented and God lifted the evil decree, the people called Jonah "a lying prophet." Perhaps Jonah thought that the Ninevites were likely to repent and was afraid that "the nations of the world" would also call him a liar. (The Book of Legends, p.133)

Rabbi Steven Bayar points out that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, the most powerful nation on earth at that time. Its inhabitants were enemies of the people of Israel. Jonah may not have wanted to save the very people who had conquered his own.

MORE TABLE TALK

1. The INTERPRETATION section above offers four different reasons why Jonah might have wanted to escape from doing what God wanted him to do. The first example implies that Jonah thought the job wasn't very important. The second suggests that Jonah was trying to protect his people from God's anger. The third makes it seem that Jonah was afraid of being placed in an embarrassing situation, where he would appear foolish. The last one has Jonah wanting revenge on the people who have hurt his own. Which one seems most likely to you? Why? Can you think of any other reasons? Have you ever tried to avoid doing something for any of the same reasons? Describe the incident, your reaction, and the ultimate results.
2. The words that Jonah uses to describe God in the TEXT section are very similar to the ones used by Moses after God has forgiven the Israelites for the sin of the Golden Calf (Exodus 34:6). Would you expect an angry person to say these words? (Jonah 4:1 says that Jonah was "greatly displeased.") Why would Jonah use these words to express his displeasure with God's decision to save the people of Nineveh? What types of words do you use when you're angry at someone? If God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in kindness, how would you describe Jonah? What would the world be like if everyone was like Jonah? What would the world be like if we all tried to behave like God? Moses' description of God is known as the Thirteen Attributes. They are part of the liturgy for the festivals and are read at the start of the Torah Service on Yom Kippur (Gates of Repentance, p. 338).
3. The root of the Hebrew verb nachem means to comfort or console, to have compassion or to relent. Forms of this verb are found three times in the Book of Jonah. The first time it is used, the king of Nineveh tells his people to fast and turn back from evil ways because "Who knows but that God will turn and relent?" (Jonah 3:9.) Next, the "narrator" reports that when God saw that the people were repenting, "God renounced the punishment" (Jonah 3:10). Finally, Jonah acknowledges God's "renouncing punishment" as described in the TEXT section above. What does it mean to comfort or console someone? Give examples of when you've comforted someone and when you've been consoled by someone else. How did each make you feel? What does it mean to relent or renounce anger or punishment? Give examples of when you've relented or when someone has renounced their anger against you. Again, tell how each made you feel.
4. Why do you think that this story is told on Yom Kippur? What lessons do you think we're supposed to learn?

WHY NOT TRY ... taking the lesson of the Book of Jonah to heart and be more forgiving to the people who you care about? Practice compassion by giving your friends and loved ones more chances and be more accepting.

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This week's Family Shabbat Table Talk was written by Faye Tillis Lewy, who was helped and inspired by Jonah expert Rabbi Steven Bob of Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, Illinois.