Our rabbi gave a shiur (class) before the Selichot service tonight on the story of Jonah and the whale (actually, it's not a whale in the story, but a fish. "Dag" in Hebrew.) Selichot is when Jews start think seriously about repentance as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur approach, so the shiur's theme was on that topic. Before I discuss the main thrust of the rabbi's interpretation of the story, I want to explain why the word "fish" (and not "whale") is significant.

I have trouble with miracles (if you read my blog, you'll see I have trouble with God, but accepting God for a moment...). A man surviving in the belly of a fish is one such miracle. Luckily, I'm not the only one troubled by miracles and the sages, including the Rambam, often try to interpret such events as dreams, literary devices, or other alternatives. The story of the fish has a couple interpretations. The easiest one is that Jonah's 3 days in the fish is just a dream. There's not much to say about that, but the other explanation is much better. It turns out that Nineveh (the city Jonah was supposed to travel to and warn of their impending destruction) is a combination of two Aramaic words: "fish" and "house". It now seems that Jonah's arrival inside a fish may actually mean that he arrived in Nineveh after getting thrown into the water. There is another verse to strengthen this idea. Later on in the story, Nineveh is described as a city that took 3 days to traverse -- the same amount of time Jonah spent in the fish.

Now, back to the main point of the class. Jonah spends the entire story seemingly upset with God and intent on disobeying His command. Why? The rabbi suggests that he felt that the people of Nineveh did not deserve redemption. He knew that if he brought God's message and warning to them that they would repent and be spared. So, instead of doing God's bidding, he runs. After enduring a storm and 3 days in the fish he finally gives in and agrees to give the warning to the city. The people of Nineveh immediately repent and are spared, and Jonah remains quite bitter about the whole incident.

The interesting point is that Jonah never does teshuvah (repentance) for his disobedience. When he prays to God from inside the fish, he extols God's virtues and says he is prepared to go to the city, but he never admits to doing anything wrong or asks for forgiveness. He was so focused on the wickedness of the people of Nineveh that he is blind to his own faults. As we approach the High Holy Days we need to ignore the sins of others and turn our attention inward for a truly introspective new year.

Shannah Tovah.