The Inner Drama of Yonah the Prophet

The biblical book of Yonah (Jonah) is a small volume included in the Book of the Twelve (Trei Asar). The now iconic story involving a giant fish swallowing the prophet of Israel is often understood by scholars as a work of biblical satire. And yet, in the Jewish tradition, this book is read each year on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. How could the work of satire ever have acheived such status to be read on such a solemn and sober day? The following rendition of Yonah's story will help illustrate a more somber reading of this book with a conscious highlighting of the ways in which the narrative speaks to the inner turmoil within the mind and heart of this unlucky prophet. Rather than portray Yonah as satire, this account demonstrates how Yonah perceives of himself as a failure and his struggles help relate the great men and women of Israel to the contemporary Jew.

Once upon a time in the Land of Israel there lived a prophet named Yonah, the son of Amittay. What who was this prophet of Ancient Israel? From the a young and tender age, Yonah was initiated into the school of the Israelite Prophets whose mission was to teach the people right from wrong, and most importantly, to speak up whenever people did evil things. No one in the Land of Israel could be spared from the righteous wrath of the zealous Israelite prophets. King or queen, prince or warrior, those with wealth or those with power. The job of the prophet was to speak up against evil in all its forms. Yonah was trained as a prophet, but he soon grew weary of his luckless task.

One day he heard about the evil things that the people of the great city of Nineveh were doing. And though he knew he really must speak up against the great city of Nineveh, he did not wish to go to Nineveh and speak before its people. In fact, Yonah did not wish to be a prophet anymore, not for Nineveh and not for any other city in the Land of Israel or anywhere else. Instead, Yonah wished to run far away from Nineveh, from the Land of Israel, and from anything that would remind him of prophets and their unlucky job of speaking up against evil.

Yonah heard of a faraway place called Tarshish and decided that he would travel there and start his life anew. He made his way by foot to the port city of Yafo, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. There he found a ship set sail for the the faraway city of Tarshish, and without hesitation, he boarded the ship and paid the captain the fare for the long journey. Yonah went down to the hull of the ship and sought to forget about the city of Nineveh, and his dreadful mission of the prophet of Israel.

The great sea vessel left the port city of Yafo bound for faraway Tarshish on a bright morning with a calm sea. But a short time later, the sea waters began to stir with the strong winds. And the Yonah's ship was hurled bout on the Mediterranean Sea. The great wind upon the sea tossed the ship to and fro and it seemed that the ship would likely be wrecked. The sailors were afraid, and each one cried out in feverish prayers, thinking this journey would be their last. And the sailors frantically began throwing out spare items from the ship into the sea, to lighten the sea vessel, in hopes of survival through the storm. But all while this was taking place, Yonah had stayed in the hull of the ship. And this runaway prophet was fast asleep all through the storm. Snoring loudly, he was blissfully unaware of the madness taking place on the ship's deck. And the captain came to him and said to him "What are you doing, you sleeper? Get up and help us. At the very least, call out your God and say your last prayers."

The captain feared that the sea would not be settled anytime soon and knew that the time had come to lighten the ship even further. But no matter what objects were thrown from the ship, the danger remained. And so the captain called to the sailors and everyone on board the ship and said "Come together everyone. As per the law of the seas, when the sea rages as it does now, and the captain and sailors conclude that the ship must be lightened at all costs, nothing may stand in the way of survival. We have now casted every loose thing on board and yet the danger remains. It is now time for our final attempts of survival. Let us now cast lots that we may know who will be first unlucky soul to be cast upon the sea to lighten the load of the ship." And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Yonah. Then they said to him "Tell us, before we cast you upon the sea, we must be certain to relate your terrible fate to your family and tribe so that they know of your tragic end. Before we do this evil thing to you, please tell us who you are, where are you from, and who are your people?

And Yonah said to them, "I am Yonah, a prophet from the Land of Israel, a son of the Hebrew people." Then the men became very afraid, and they said to him, "Why have you not told us this before? We cannot kill the prophet of Israel, no matter if the law of sea or the law of land insist that we do." But Yonah protested "No, my brothers. I do not deserve life more than anyone else. And in any case, I do not deserve the the title of prophet any more for I have fled my post and run away from my mission to protest against the great city of Nineveh. I am a not a prophet, but a cowardly man who deserves to die." And the sailors were disturbed and deliberated. And all the while the men argued, the sea had not calmed for one moment. The waves kept tossing the ship about, and the vessel seemed to be nearing its fatal end.

Yonah spoke up once again, "Take me to the edge of ship and cast me off. Perhaps the ship will be lightened and hopefully you will survive." But nevertheless, the sailors tried hard to find anything else to throw off the ship, and to row against the waves, but no effort would subdue the raging sea. And the captain called out to the sailors, "It is the law of the sea, we must act now to save our lives." And the sailors wept as they took Yonah, the prophet of Israel, to the edge of the ship. And they cast Yonah off into the raging waters. And the waters soon began to settle, and the sailors wept again for they had killed the prophet of Israel. And the captain turned the men and said "While we correct to act according to the law of the sea, we must make amends for this terrible deed of shedding the blood of an innocent man." And the men vowed to all change their lives in the spirit of the prophets of Israel.

As fate would have it, this was not the end of Yonah, the son of Amittay, the would be doomed prophet of Israel. Rather than be swallowed by the sea, Yonah survived. Before he washed up upon the shore, he had all but been certain to have died. But Yonah survived anyhow. It was as if he was accompanied by an underwater guardian. And so the legend goes, Yonah's underwater guardian was a great and gian fish who saved Yonah's life by swallowing up the Israelite prophet. And Yona remained in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights.

And this is the prayer of Yonah, the son of Amittay. The prophet's prayer the the God of Israel, from the belly of the great fish:

In this times of my distress I call out to God

I pray that he hears me from the belly of this hell

I had cried to you before and you heard my voicefor you did not cast me aside

into the endless deep

into the heart of the sea

and while the raging flood waters were all around me

the wind blew strong

and I watch the waves crash over my head

it was then that I knew I was forever lost

cast out of your sight

lost to my people

lost to my land

lost to God

forever lost

...

and as the waters swallowed me up

and the my time of death arrived

I fell to the depths

and its jaws closed in on me

and its teeth gnashed above my head

I went down to the bottom of the centre of the earth

the cell closed on me forever

but you will bring my up from this pit of despairwhen my soul died within me

I remembered my God

and he remembered me

I am unworthy of this miracle

I who am filled of lying vanity

I who have forsaken all loyalty

I swear I will start my life anew

I will live a life of sacrifice

I will raise my voice in thanksgiving

I will commit again to my vow

and give you that which belongs to you

a life as a faithful prophet in Israel

And after Yonah recovered from his ordeal at sea, he once again was made aware of the dreadful state of the great city of Nineveh. Yonah knew that it would be his duty to protest against the city and to deliver a message as the prophet of Israel. And so Yonah arose and travelled to Nineveh. He set out on his way knowing that this mission would certainly ensure that he would be obeying his vow to the God of Israel to serve as a faithful prophet.

Nineveh was a great distance away, but Yonah travelled with a sense of urgancy and soon reached the great city. Yonah entered the city and began to protest the evils of Nineveh which had been made known far and wide. Yonah spoke to the people and told them how he had heard of the terrible things done in the city, how even the people of Israel had heard of these terrible deeds. Yonah spoke up and declared that should these evil acts continue, the great city of Nineveh would surely fall into utter violence. Even the greatest of cities cannot survive with all this evil.

And the people heard Yonah and took his protest to heart. And Yonah called for the people to change their ways. And he proposed that for the next forty days the great city of Nineveh should overthrow its evil ways. And the people of Nineveh believed in the prophet of Israel and proclaimed that they would desist from all work. Instead, they would all wear the simple garments of the prophets, mourn their old ways, make amends, and commit to a better life.

And those who joined included the greatest of the city's residents to even to the least notable among them. And word of the matter came before the king of Nineveh. And he arose from his throne, and he laid aside his crown and his royal robe. He then wore the simple garments of the prophets. And he mourned his evil ways together with all the city residents.

And the king and the nobles of Nineveh were so moved by all of these events that they issued a decree that all commerce and trade, feasting and celebrations cease for the remainder of the forty days of mourning. And all of the city residents, from the greatest of nobles to the smallest of children took part in this forty days of mourning and introspection. And the evil and violence that made Nineveh known to Yonah all ceased. And the people knew that for the great city of Nineveh to survive as one they would need to turn from their evil ways and turn away from the fierce angry spirit that threatened to consume them all.

And so it was, that Yonah, son of Amittay, witnessed the great city of Nineveh turn from their evil ways. And it was then that he knew that the mission of the prophet of Israel was not something he could run away from. And once again Yonah vowed he would never run away from the call of the prophets of Israel. And Yonah left the great city of Nineveh.

And it was sometime after Yonah left the city of Nineveh did the prophet of Israel again grow weary. Yonah stood within view of the city and felt utterly displeased at this turn of events. And Yonah wondered: "Why did I not think of travelling to the great city of Nineveh in the first place?" And Yonah grew ashamed of his earlier plan to flee to faraway Trashish. And Yonah wished he had not been spared at sea, and that he had never returned to the land of Israel, but made the sea his burial place.

And Yonah chose not to return to the land of Israel a second time but to remain outside the great city of Nineveh. And there he sat outside the eastern side of the city. And there he made himself a shelter and sat it the shade. And Yonah hoped in his heart that he might see the city return to its evil ways if only to prove to himself that he was right all along to run away from his life as a prophet.

And while Yonah sat he noticed a a growing plant that had turned to and fro in the breeze. And the leaves of this plant had grown and seemed to offer shade to Yonah. And he sat there enjoying the cool breeze and the shade from the plant. And Yonah felt a small feeling of joy and satisfaction as he sat there wondering about the fate of Nineveh.

And the following day came and Yonah discovered that the plant had withered away. He looked closely and saw that a pest had eaten through the plant sometime during the night or in the early dawn hours and the plant's shade was no more.

And so God rebuked Yona: "Are you really so upset on account of a plant?" And Yonah replied: "I am so upset that I would rather die." And God continued to rebuke the prophet: You are so concerned about the this leafy plant. But you never once tried to help it grow or to protect it from the elements. Instead, you took joy in something that helped you one day, and you then grew upset when it perished the following day. And all this time you wished evil on the great city of Nineveh. But I cannot help but be concerned for Nineveh, the city of one hundred and twenty thousand people who could not tell right from wrong? For this was your mission, to be a prophet of Israel and a light unto the nations."