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Jonah – An Exercise in Futility?


Question:

Why do we read the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur?



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

When the Prophet Jonah was told by God that he had been chosen to deliver a message of repentance to the capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire he attempted to evade this mission. He was afraid, say our Sages, that the positive response of the sinful Assyrians to his call for a return to God might serve as an indictment of the Jewish People who showed less interest in heeding the calls of their prophets.

What did Jonah do? As we are reminded each year at Mincha on Yom Kippur when the Book of Jonah is read as the Haftarah, he hired a ship at the port of Jaffa to take him to the foreign port of Tarshish. His logic was that since God bestows prophecy only on people in the land of Israel he would be exempt from a prophetic mission if he were outside of the Holy Land.

His attempt to escape his Divine mission was, however, an exercise in futility. A Heaven-sent storm threatened to wreck his ship and, aware that he was the cause of the trouble, Jonah asked to be cast overboard. Swallowed by a giant fish and eventually regurgitated the prophet returned to his land and embarked on his mission.

This dramatic chapter in the history of Jews and the world is read on the holiest day of the year to remind all of us that there is no escape from God.


 
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