The holidays have passed and we return to our study of Yonah renewed and
with a new spirit. Let us begin by briefly reviewing the last lesson.
We considered the structure of the psalm that constitutes the second
chapter of the book of Yonah. The chapter itself follows a chiastic
structure that brings our attention to its meaning that resides in the
center. It follows the pattern that we called A B C B' A', as follows:
Prologue: And HaShem prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah
was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
A. Then Jonah prayed unto HaShem his G-d out of the fish's belly.
And he said: I called out of mine affliction unto HaShem, and He answered
me; out of the belly of the nether-world cried I, and Thou heardest my
voice.
B. For Thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas,
and the
flood was round about me; all Thy waves and Thy billows passed over me.
And I said: 'I am cast out from before Thine eyes'; yet I will look again
toward Thy holy temple.
C. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was
round
about me; the weeds were wrapped about my head.
B' I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars
closed upon me for ever; yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit, O
HaShem my G-d. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered HaShem; and my
prayer came in unto Thee, into Thy holy temple.
A' They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will
sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving; that which I have
vowed I will pay. Salvation is of HaShem.
Epilogue:And HaShem spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the
dry land.
Compare B and B'.
B. For Thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, and
the flood was round about me; all Thy waves and Thy billows passed over
me. And I said: 'I am cast out from before Thine eyes'; yet I will look
again toward Thy holy temple.
B'. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars
closed upon me for ever; yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit, O
HaShem my G-d.
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered HaShem; and my prayer came in
unto Thee, into Thy holy temple.
In the first version of his story, Yonah displays a curious forgetfulness.
He seems to not remember that it was he himself who told the sailors to
throw him overboard and not G-d who cast him into the depth. He does not
recall that he is the one who run away from G-d and not vice versa.
When the prophet first went down into the sea he exemplified the all so
common phenomenon. Who has not met people whose personal and character
deficiencies wrecked their lives; yet, they remain full of anger at G-d
and man. A person enveloped in this "victim mentality" cannot, simply is
not able to repent, to turn back, to accept responsibility, to better his
or her ways. The anger, the casting of blame, the lack of insight surround
and imprison him. He sees G-d's waves of misfortune blocking his path. It
is His fault, He does not deserve that I should give in to to His willful
injustice and abuse. I will obstinately remain where I stand; I'll show
Him that I am more faithful than He, for despite Him I will look toward
his Holy Temple. The self imposed barriers are ascribed to G-d and the
anger at oneself is now His lot.
In the belly of the fish, Yonah has grown. Under the threat of death and
dissolution, the emotion and pain dissipated and he became ready to take a
dispassionate and objective look at his situation. His misfortunes -
simply are. His redemption is of Hashem. Once we take responsibility for
our own deeds, we can see G-d as what He always is - a Savior and giver of
life. "I went down to the mountains - Thou has brought my life from the
pit, Hashem my G-d... Salvation is of Hashem."
A Talmudic passage powerfully expresses this insight.
R. Yochanan found the child of Reish Lakish who was sitting and repeating:
The foolishness of man makes crooked his way but against G-d his heart
rages (Proverbs 19,3). R. Yochanan sat down and wondered: Is there
something that is enunciated in the Writings that is not found in the
Pentateuch? The child said to him: What, is it not alluded to? Is it not
written in Genesis 42, 28: ( and the brothers of Joseph who had just
expressed some understanding that their suffering was in recompense for
their betrayal of their brother Joseph) )trembled one to the other and
they said: What is this that G-d is doing to us?" (Taanis 9a)
Such is the nature of man's self-delusion. He, O, so often blames others
for what is really his own fault and is filled with rage and anger at
those in whom resides his salvation.
We cannot grow if we do not realize this pervasive inclination of human
psyche. The second chapter of Yonah teaches us how to cast barrriers aside
and how to go forward.
