{"id":78064,"date":"2020-07-26T13:36:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T10:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78064"},"modified":"2020-07-26T13:36:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T10:36:53","slug":"the-unfinished-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-unfinished-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unfinished Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"78064","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":75217,"related_cahpter":"532","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"How can we help Jonah on his journey of self-realization?\r\n\r\n","content":"

In some ways, the narrative arc of the book of Jonah ends in chapter three: Jonah successfully delivers his prophecy, and we get a happy ending when Nineveh collectively repents from their evil ways and God decides to annul their punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter four shows us that there is, quite literally, more to the story. The chapter begins with Jonah yet again acting quite un-prophet-like, upset at the fact that Nineveh\u2019s repentance has indeed convinced God to save them. From there, God and Jonah have their first actual conversation- a short little back-and-forth that stands out sharply from their previous communication through its sheer intimacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

For us readers, it almost feels as though we are eavesdropping as Jonah calls out to a God he just does not understand. <\/span>Why did you save the Ninevites?<\/span><\/em> God responds to Jonah with a message about compassion, worth a close reading but which can be summarized thus:<\/span>the citizens of Nineveh are worthy of it, as all are of God\u2019s creatures<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Interestingly and perhaps frustratingly, we do not get to hear Jonah\u2019s response. Various midrashic imaginings will extend the conversation beyond what the book itself provides, but I prefer to believe it is a deliberate choice on the part of the author.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the past four chapters we followed the journey of a polarizing, ambiguous main character. Jonah may be one of the most successful prophets of all time: while most prophets have enough of a hard time with their own people, Jonah gets non-Jews to recognize the glory of God at two different points in the story- a pretty impressive feat. At the same time, however, he also may be one of the worst: who else had the gall to run away so brazenly from the divine call?<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonah constantly fluctuates between being the inspired prophet, capable of bringing an entire city to God, and being the average guy, who acts with the same stubbornness and fear we are sometimes embarrassed to find in ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonah\u2019s \u201cmissing\u201d final words give us as readers the power to decide which Jonah we end up with by the story\u2019s end. Do we imagine him, as one midrash does, falling on his face in supplication before the Lord, in recognition of God\u2019s compassionate wisdom? Or, does the message pass him by due to all-too-human foibles?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If a large message of the book of Jonah is that people have the ability to repent and atone for past misdeeds, it is a powerful statement that the prophet himself is a character who needs to go through this transformation- not just those to whom he is prophesying. And, it is even more powerful when we as readers are placed in a position to help him achieve it. By imagining the way Jonah responds to God\u2019s final lesson, taking in God\u2019s words and changing accordingly, we push Jonah along his own journey of self-realization- a push that may open up opportunities for change and growth in ourselves as well.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78065,"id":78065,"title":"jon4-phone conversation","filename":"jon4-phone-conversation.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-phone-conversation.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-unfinished-conversation\/jon4-phone-conversation\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jon4-phone-conversation","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78064,"date":"2020-07-26 10:36:14","modified":"2020-07-26 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