the storm-tossed waves that led to Jonah\u2019s dive overboard could be seen as both a sign of God\u2019s frustration with his refusal to deliver his divine message to the city of Nineveh, and a symbol of Jonah\u2019s own psychic tension at such a refusal. Seen through either lens, the story makes clear that the necessary tasks of life may be able to be delayed for some time, but they can not be avoided forever: the wrath of God, and\/or our own consciousness, will catch up to us in the end.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn chapter 2, as in chapter 1, water plays a dual role in helping us to understand Jonah\u2019s development as the \u201chero\u201d of our story. On the one hand, it is the physical site of God\u2019s miraculous saving of his prophet- perhaps despite even the wishes of the prophet himself. On the other hand, it is also a powerful image of the human subconscious: that unknown part of ourselves, frightful in its unfamiliarity, but also quite giving at the most unexpected of times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nJonah\u2019s underwater, inside-fish sojourn evokes the common but profound experience of a \u201cflash of insight,\u201d when a sudden solution pops into our head unannounced after a period of creative effort. (Or, if you are someone who works with deadlines, perhaps \u2018creative crisis\u2019 is the more accurate phrase.) In those moments, one wonders where these ideas come from- though we know on one level that we created them, they appear suddenly in our minds, as though gifted from afar, or bubbling up from some place deep within.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nHere, the briny deep which holds Jonah seems a particularly apt setting for Jonah to change from runaway prophet to one who is ready to accept his earthly responsibilities. After going overboard- the ultimate act of surrender, of admitted powerlessness- Jonah is saved. As dramatic as it is, we actually know Jonah\u2019s experience in miniature whenever our subconscious brain gifts us an epiphany- whether large or small- to help us along our way in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhat is Jonah\u2019s insight from the depths? Chapter 2 is made up almost entirely of Jonah\u2019s prayer inside the fish, and therefore one of its key features is <\/span>voice<\/span><\/i>. We hear Jonah\u2019s voice first at the end of chapter one, when he (finally) takes action by announcing himself to his shipmates and asking them to be thrown overboard. By the end of chapter 2, he is truly <\/span>fully-voiced<\/span><\/em>, turning his prayer into one of gratitude and recognition of the need to perform his earthly duties<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\nBut I, with loud thanksgiving,
\r\n<\/span>Will sacrifice to You;
\r\n<\/span>What I have vowed I will perform.
\r\n<\/span>Deliverance is the Lord\u2019s! (2:10)<\/span><\/p>\r\nIt is a useful gift for a prophet, who will indeed need his voice if he is to carry out his divine mission when back on dry land. We will see how he uses it in chapter 3, tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77880,"alt":"","title":"jon2-from the depths","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","width":901,"height":549,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-300x183.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":183,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-768x468.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":468,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","large-width":901,"large-height":549,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","1536x1536-width":901,"1536x1536-height":549,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","2048x2048-width":901,"2048x2048-height":549,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","post_full_size-width":901,"post_full_size-height":549,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-689x420.jpg","home_baner-width":689,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Gift of the Depths","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Jonah\u2019s epiphany wells up from below","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77880,"alt":"","title":"jon2-from the depths","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","width":901,"height":549,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-300x183.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":183,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-768x468.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":468,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","large-width":901,"large-height":549,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","1536x1536-width":901,"1536x1536-height":549,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","2048x2048-width":901,"2048x2048-height":549,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths.jpg","post_full_size-width":901,"post_full_size-height":549,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon2-from-the-depths-689x420.jpg","home_baner-width":689,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jonah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"530","date":"20270909","wall_id":"530"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"77863","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"No Easy Escape ","post_title":"No Easy Escape","slug":"no-easy-escape","old_id":"77863","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":59587,"post_title":"Benjamin Morse","slug":"benjamin-morse","old_id":"59587","first_name":"Benjamin ","last_name":"Morse ","description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history at Vassar, Oxford, and the Courtauld before completing a PhD in biblical interpretation. His dissertation reads the Hebrew Bible\u2019s \u201cmodern methods\u201d through the lens of painting and collage. His illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever, has won multiple awards.\r\nPhoto by Lenka Opalena.","short_description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history, and is the author and illustrator of the illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":59588,"alt":"","title":"Benjamin Morse by Lenka Opalena","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","width":1069,"height":1576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":695,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","large-width":695,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","2048x2048-width":1069,"2048x2048-height":1576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-814x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":814,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-285x420.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"530","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Orwell\u2019s Whale in the Days of Black Lives Matter\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"George Orwell\u2019s 1940 essay \u201cInside the Whale\u201d appropriates Jonah\u2019s deliverance to encourage novelists to stop being so political. He likens the belly of the fish to a womb and insists, <\/span>\u201cGood novels are written by people who are <\/span>not frightened<\/span><\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s a curious take on a lament sung from a place of darkness and bile, but it fits. Gulping him up from the ocean floor, God saves Jonah from the Pit (2.6) and cradles him back to life.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAmidst the throes of climate catastrophe, quarantine rage, and Twitter storms, it is tempting to seek the safe space of a cocoon of blubber. Get inside the whale, stop fighting the things you can\u2019t control, etc. But when it comes to the historical novel I am writing, I\u2019ve had to consider whether its premise is not a fiction of post-racial fantasy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nInspired by Manhattan\u2019s Draft Riots of 1863, when an Irish mob murdered over a hundred black citizens, it opens with a quote from the abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher: \u201cNot those who have your blood in their veins, but those who have your disposition in their soul, are your true kindred.\u201d Through parallel voices, I intend to show that the daughter of a Mohawk laborer and the son of a Brooklyn patriarch are alike in spirit.<\/span><\/p>\r\nI had written forty thousand words when George Floyd\u2019s death set the world on fire. Twenty marches, countless petitions, and a monthly donation to Bailproject.org later, I was telling a black friend how my ambition to write felt self-serving and my skepticism over identity politics now seemed rooted in privilege. Wasn\u2019t I running away from responsibility if I was essentially attempting to erase difference? She warned me not to temper my novel for the sake of intersectionalist approval: \u201cDon\u2019t disregard your unique experience. Just tell a human story.\u201d\u00a0 Or, as Orwell might have told me, don\u2019t let the storm of battleships drown out my voice; remain myself at all costs.<\/span><\/p>\r\nBut the story of Jonah says \u201cnot so fast\u201d to some of that. Jonah doesn\u2019t want to get involved. Jonah ultimately thinks it would be better for him to die than to have to preach repentance.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAnd yet what Jonah has vowed, he must perform (2.10).<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cThe truth is,\u201d Salman Rushdie replied in the March 1984 issue of GRANTA, \u201cthat there is no whale\u2026 [And] in this world without quiet corners, there can be no easy escapes from history, from hullabaloo, from terrible, unquiet fuss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nAs I set out to finish my novel I am mindful that a year after \u201cInside the Whale\u201d Orwell wrote <\/span>Animal Farm<\/span><\/i>. Proof that white people can change. Proof that white people can stop evading the prophetic call and get out of their comfort zones. The blinking cursor on my screen has yet to reveal what all this means for my Mohawk and my Pierrepont, but Angela Davis seems to be calling me back to shore. I think my characters will need to change the things they cannot accept.<\/span><\/p>\r\nImage: Silkscreen of George Floyd by Artists for George<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77868,"alt":"","title":"Jon2-George Floyd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","width":1121,"height":1168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-288x300.jpg","medium-width":288,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-768x800.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-983x1024.jpg","large-width":983,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","1536x1536-width":1121,"1536x1536-height":1168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","2048x2048-width":1121,"2048x2048-height":1168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1168,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-403x420.jpg","home_baner-width":403,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"No Easy Escape","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Orwell\u2019s Whale in the Days of Black Lives Matter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77868,"alt":"","title":"Jon2-George Floyd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","width":1121,"height":1168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-288x300.jpg","medium-width":288,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-768x800.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-983x1024.jpg","large-width":983,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","1536x1536-width":1121,"1536x1536-height":1168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","2048x2048-width":1121,"2048x2048-height":1168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1168,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon2-George-Floyd-403x420.jpg","home_baner-width":403,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jonah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"530","date":"20270909","wall_id":"530"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"77929","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Repentance Of Nineveh ","post_title":"The Repentance Of Nineveh","slug":"the-repentance-of-nineveh","old_id":"77929","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"531","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But did they go back to their backsliding ways?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"Our chapter continues the story of Jonah with God telling the prophet: \u201cGo at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it what I tell you\u201d (Jonah 3:2). This time, Jonah obeys: \u201cJonah went at once to Nineveh in accordance with the Lord\u2019s command\u201d (verse 3).<\/span><\/p>\r\nOne day\u2019s walk into the enormous city (three days were required to traverse it entirely according to 3:3), Jonah, a true prophet of doom, cries out: \u201cForty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\u201d (verse 4). As Jonah had feared (see 4:2), the people of Nineveh and their king immediately believe in Jonah\u2019s divine prophecy, proclaim a fast, \u201cand great and small alike put on sackcloth\u201d (verse 5).<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Midrash (Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer 43) retells our chapter adding considerable detail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe biblically unnamed king of Nineveh is surprisingly identified by this Midrash as Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who previously had said: \u201c\u201cWho is the Lord that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go\u201d (Exodus 5:2). The Midrash goes on to describe the specific sins of the people of Nineveh. They are said to have written fraudulent deeds. Everyone in Nineveh robbed his neighbor. They committed sodomy, like the earlier people of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19), and performed other wicked acts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nAs soon as Jonah began to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, Pharaoh, now the king of Nineveh, hearkened and arose from his throne, rent his garments and clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes. He made a proclamation that all his people should fast for two days, and that all who continued to do wicked deeds should be burnt by fire. What did the people of Nineveh do? They separated themselves into three groups -- the men were on one side, and the women were on the other, and all their children were set off by themselves. Indeed, even all the clean animals were separated from their offspring, who were by themselves. When the infants saw the breasts of their mothers and wanted to nurse, they cried aloud. Similarly, when the mothers saw their children and wanted to nurse them, they too cried aloud. Because of the merit of these innocent children, more than 120,000 sinful adults were saved from death, as it says: \"And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons\u201d (Jonah 4:11).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nFinally: \"God saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them and did not carry it out\u201d (3:10). However, after 40 years, corresponding to the 40 days mentioned in Jonah\u2019s oracle of doom (3:4), the people of Nineveh returned to their evil ways, even more than before, and they were destroyed as Jonah had prophesied.<\/span><\/p>\r\nImage: John Martin: Repentance of Nineveh, c. 1840, Yale U. Gallery \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77932,"alt":"","title":"Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","width":716,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-300x251.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","medium_large-width":716,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","large-width":716,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","1536x1536-width":716,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","2048x2048-width":716,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","post_full_size-width":716,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-501x420.jpg","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Repentance Of Nineveh","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But did they go back to their backsliding ways?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77932,"alt":"","title":"Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","width":716,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-300x251.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","medium_large-width":716,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","large-width":716,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","1536x1536-width":716,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","2048x2048-width":716,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh.jpg","post_full_size-width":716,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon3-John_Martin-Repentance_of_Nineveh-501x420.jpg","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jonah","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"531","date":"20270912","wall_id":"531"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"77934","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Sackcloth on Animals? ","post_title":"Sackcloth on Animals?","slug":"sackcloth-on-animals","old_id":"77934","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"531","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"You betcha\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"Jonah made his way to Nineveh and warned its inhabitants of its impending destruction (4). They took him seriously, declared a fast, and put on sackcloth \u201cgreat and small alike\u201d (5). When news of their actions reached the king, he joined them, removing his royal garments, putting on sackcloth, and sitting in ashes (6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nIt is the subject of his subsequent decree that drew my attention:<\/span><\/p>\r\nAnd he had the word cried through Nineveh: \u201cBy decree of the king and his nobles: No man or beast\u2014of flock or herd\u2014shall taste anything! They shall not graze, and they shall not drink water! They shall be covered with sackcloth\u2014man and beast\u2014and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty. (7-8)<\/span><\/p>\r\nI understand the sackcloth and prayer for the people of Nineveh, but sackcloth and prayer for beasts?<\/span><\/p>\r\nIbn Ezra was forthright in his rejection of that reading, stating: \u201cCovered\u2026 and cry: The people; those who have intelligence.\u201d With all due deference to that arch-rationalist, the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle can be called \u201ccrying out,\u201d an interpretation supported by \u201cthe very beasts of the field cry out to you\u201d when deprived of their water and pasture (Joel 1:20).<\/span><\/p>\r\nEven dressing animals in sackcloth does not exceed biblical norms. If the horse on which Ahasuerus rode to his coronation was outfitted with a crown (Esther 6:8), temporarily replacing its saddle with sackcloth is not out of the realm of possibility. [For those who may remain skeptical, both Herodotus and Plutarch reported on the shearing of the manes and tails of horses and donkeys to mark the deaths of prominent military figures.]<\/span><\/p>\r\nIndeed, the fates of men and beasts have been intertwined since the flood (Gen. 6:5-7), and the presence of animals alongside people in the ark is cited in God\u2019s decision to have the waters ultimately subside (Gen. 8:1). As the Psalmist put it: \u201cYour righteousness [extends] to the loftiest mountains, Your justice to the deepest waters; man and beast will God save\u201d (36:7), and in God\u2019s own words at the close of the Book of Jonah: \u201cAnd should I not care about Nineveh\u2026 in which there are\u2026 many beasts as well?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nOn the other hand, the Talmudic Sages saw the prayer and sackcloth with a jaundiced eye:<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe penitence of Nineveh was dishonest\u2026 They stationed calves within and their mothers without; foals within and their mothers without; those screamed and screeched and those screamed and screeched. 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Natasha hails from the grassy hills of Hertfordshire, England, and has spent most of her adult life between Los Angeles and the Holy City of Jerusalem. Natasha has worked in Jewish education and the non-profit world, promoting better education and legislation on human trafficking issues. ","short_description":"Rabbi Natasha Mann serves as a rabbi at New London Synagogue and Hatch End\/Mosaic Masorti.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47906,"alt":"","title":"natasha mann","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","width":735,"height":954,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-768x568.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":568,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-1024x757.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":757,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","1536x1536-width":735,"1536x1536-height":954,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","2048x2048-width":735,"2048x2048-height":954,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-1200x887.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":887,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-324x420.jpg","home_baner-width":324,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"531","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Two sides of the life force\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"The sudden switch of Nineveh\u2019s spiritual state would be fanciful in many narratives, but works in the weird and wonderful world of Jonah. Jonah, recently spewed upon the land by the giant fish in which he had been living, utters a proclamation (3:4: \u2018Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overturned!\u2019). It is five words long (in the original), does not mention God or divine prophecy, and is perhaps only uttered once. And yet the city immediately turns on its heel and repents, saving it (for the time-being) from its fate.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNineveh is a polytheistic city, and Jonah failed to mention that his proclamation was a prophecy from a universal God, but this doesn\u2019t seem to be a problem. Unprompted, the Ninevites refer to God in a monotheistic manner. They use the name \u2018E-lohim\u2019. Though \u2018E-lohim\u2019 might look plural in number, it is used solely with singular verbs, indicating that it is God (and not a number of gods) to whom the Ninevites appeal. However, interestingly, this is not the way that God is referred to throughout the rest of the book. The narrative voice and Jonah both refer to God using the Name, YHVH (spelled yud-hey vav-hey<\/em>, pronounced A-donai). The sailors on the boat also use the Name, after they are fed this name from Jonah when he divulges his religious and ethnic background.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWe first see God referred to directly and solely as \u2018E-lohim\u2019 in 3:5, in which the Ninevites respond to Jonah\u2019s proclamation by \u2018believing E-lohim\u2019. (There is perhaps another reference in 3:3, though the meaning of this Hebrew phrase is uncertain.) The Ninevites continue to refer to God this way. Then, in 3:10, we close the chapter with God\u2019s response to the Ninevites. And in this verse, God is referred to solely as E-lohim.<\/span><\/p>\r\n3:10: God [E-lohim] saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God [E-lohim] renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen the text turns back to the debrief between God and Jonah in Chapter 4, God will once again be referred to using the Name (A-donai).<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhy do the Ninevites use the name E-lohim, when they were given no theistic language from Jonah? Why does God respond to them as E-lohim, instead of the name used throughout the rest of the book? Perhaps we are given a glimpse into a theological framework here. Behind all of our names for God, and all of our concepts of divinity, there is a basic and universal relationship between humanity and the Divine. The Ninevites, apparently ripe for repentance and perched on the edge of destruction, feel it in their souls when they are finally nudged to the side of the light. And thus God responds, not as a national god with a particular name, but as the life force behind the whole universe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77987,"alt":"","title":"jon3-nmann","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","width":1280,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-768x443.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":443,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-1024x591.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-1200x693.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-727x420.png","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The God Of Jonah And The God Of Nineveh","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Two sides of the life force","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77987,"alt":"","title":"jon3-nmann","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","width":1280,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-768x443.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":443,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-1024x591.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-1200x693.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-nmann-727x420.png","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jonah","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"531","date":"20270912","wall_id":"531"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"78058","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Tend Your Plants! ","post_title":"Tend Your Plants!","slug":"tend-your-plants","old_id":"78058","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64875,"post_title":"Eliza McCarroll","slug":"eliza-mccarroll","old_id":"64875","first_name":"Eliza ","last_name":"McCarroll ","description":"Eliza McCarroll is a fifth-year rabbinical student from Sydney, Australia, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. ","short_description":"Eliza McCarroll is a fifth-year rabbinical student from Sydney, Australia, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64877,"alt":"","title":"Eliza McCarroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","width":506,"height":436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-300x258.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","medium_large-width":506,"medium_large-height":436,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","large-width":506,"large-height":436,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":506,"1536x1536-height":436,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":506,"2048x2048-height":436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":506,"post_full_size-height":436,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-487x420.jpg","home_baner-width":487,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"532","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And all the other important things in life\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"This chapter in the Book of Jonah tells the famous tale of the prophet and his beloved plant.<\/span><\/p>\r\nGod grants Jonah a plant as a gift, to be \u201ca shadow over his head and save him from discomfort\u201d (Jonah 4:6), serving as protection from the beating sun of the desert in which he is hiding, as he shirks his duty to redeem the town of Nineveh.<\/span><\/p>\r\nHowever, Jonah fails to care for the plant, and God sends a worm to eat the plant, and a blistering wind to wither it. The shade which Jonah was not only grateful for, but dependent upon for his safety, was no more.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn reading and studying this story, which we recite as the Haftarah on Yom Kippur, perhaps we can glean the following lessons:<\/span><\/p>\r\nFirstly, nothing good comes easy. When Jonah is distraught about his plant and complains to God, God tells him: \u201cYou cared so much about this plant, but did not toil over it and did not nurture it\u201d (Jonah 4:10). Jonah does not work nor care for this plant, and, as a result, is unable to benefit from it anymore. The same goes for our own lives; if there is something that we really want (a job, a good grade in school, a relationship), then we must tend to it, and, just like a plant which needs water and sunlight to survive, give it the love and attention it deserves to thrive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSecondly, we can learn from Jonah not to take our blessings for granted. The reason he becomes so distressed - even telling God that he would rather die than live, he was so deeply grieved over the plant (Jonah 4:9) - is that Jonah assumed it would always be there. In the world of uncertainty we are living in today, we know this to be patently untrue, and this story serves as a poignant reminder to (safely) show our appreciation for those things in our lives which we hold dear, whether that be our families, our friends, our pets, our education, and, of course, our health.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAs we both battle the ongoing health crisis and also look towards a new Jewish year, may Jonah remind us of the values of hard work and gratitude, and may we and those we love stay safe and healthy.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78059,"alt":"","title":"jon4-hands-plant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Tend Your Plants!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And all the other important things in life","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78059,"alt":"","title":"jon4-hands-plant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jonah","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"532","date":"20270913","wall_id":"532"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"78064","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Unfinished Conversation ","post_title":"The Unfinished Conversation","slug":"the-unfinished-conversation","old_id":"78064","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":75217,"post_title":"Jonah Potasznik","slug":"jonah-potasznik","old_id":"75217","first_name":"Jonah ","last_name":"Potasznik ","description":"Jonah Potasznik is a Jewish educator currently living in Canada. He graduated from the Pardes Educators Program in Jerusalem in 2019 and now teaches Jewish text and tradition in various settings, from day school classrooms to backwoods fire pits. ","short_description":"Jonah Potasznik is a Jewish educator currently living in Canada.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":75218,"alt":"","title":"jonah potasznik","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik.jpg","width":792,"height":715,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik-300x271.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik-768x693.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":693,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik.jpg","large-width":792,"large-height":715,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik.jpg","1536x1536-width":792,"1536x1536-height":715,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik.jpg","2048x2048-width":792,"2048x2048-height":715,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik.jpg","post_full_size-width":792,"post_full_size-height":715,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jonah-potasznik-465x420.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"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","post_main_content_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>\r\nChapter 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>\r\nFor us readers, it almost feels as though we are eavesdropping as Jonah calls out to a God he just does not understand. <\/span>