Yom Kippur: Commentary

Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת

The people and animals in Nineveh return to God through תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, repentance). God forgives them, but Yonah isn’t happy about it.

Then God causes a plant called a קִיקָיוֹן (kikayon) to grow above Yonah. Yonah appreciates its comfortable shade. When God quickly makes the kikayon shrivel up and die, Yonah misses the kikayon and becomes very upset. God explains why all this happened:

יונה ד׳:י׳-י״א

וַיֹּאמֶר יהוה אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָמַלְתָּ בּוֹ וְלֹא גִדַּלְתּוֹ שֶׁבִּן לַיְלָה הָיָה וּבִן לַיְלָה אָבָד׃

וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה׃

Jonah 4:10-11

God said: “You cared about the kikayon, which you did not work for and which you did not grow. It just appeared overnight and then died overnight.

So shouldn’t I care about Nineveh, that great city, where there are more than 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals as well?!”

How do you understand God’s message in these pesukim? Why does God care so much about Nineveh, and what does God want Yonah to learn? (Think about these questions before you read on!)

Here’s how Abarbanel explains it:

אברבנאל על יונה ד׳:י׳:א׳

וְאֵיךְ אִם כֵּן אֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה שֶׁהִיא עִיר גְּדוֹלָה וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר וּבִנְיָן גָּדוֹל וְעָצוּם לֹא כַּקִּיקָיוֹן...

וָיהוה יִתְבָּרַךְ הָיָה אוֹהֵב אֶת נִינְוֵה לִהְיוֹתוֹ פְּעֻלָּתוֹ וּמַעֲשָׂיו, הִנֵּה אִם כֵּן הָיָה הָא-ל יִתְבָּרַךְ לְנִינְוֵה כְּמוֹ הָאָב.

Abarbanel on Jonah 4:10:1

How could I (God) not care about Nineveh, a big city that contains the glorious work of My hands?! This makes Nineveh different from the kikayon (which was not so big, and which Yonah did NOT create)...

God loves Nineveh because it is God’s action and creation, which makes God like a parent to Nineveh.

According to Abarbanel, God loves all the parts of creation like a parent loves a child, and Nineveh is no exception. By bringing the kikayon to Yonah, and then taking it away, God was teaching Yonah: “I created all the people of Nineveh. I created everything. From My perspective, every part of My creation deserves mercy.”

What does it mean to think about all things on earth being created by God, and God loving them? If you believe this is true, how should you act?
What does it mean to think of God having mercy on all things? Can you think of surprising examples?
How does it impact your experience of Yom Kippur to think about all people and all animals being creations and children of God?

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