Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
This prophet's book is read at Mincha on Yom Kippur. Its central message is that the Almighty wants every person, even the most misguided, to mend their ways, and accepts that change.
Jonah was a disciple of the prophet Elijah. He is mentioned in the Book of Kings.
We also know his father's name—Amittai—because the prophet is known as Jonah ben Amittai. This is generally understood to indicate that Jonah's father was also a prophet. Otherwise, his name would not have merited mention. (Such a mention points to a connection between father and son, to something they have in common.)
We have a tradition that Jonah's father was from the tribe of Zebulun and his mother from the tribe of Asher. She was the very same woman, the widow of Zarephath, whose son died of hunger but was brought back to life by the prophet Elijah.
What else do we know about the prophet? At that time, Israel was divided into two kingdoms.
In the north was Israel, with its capital in the city of Samaria, where idolatry flourished unchecked; in the south was Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, where the Temple stood. For the inhabitants of the north, the southern border was closed: the government of Samaria forbade them to cross it and travel through the southern kingdom to the Temple. Violating the prohibition was severely punished.
Yet Jonah, who was born and lived in the north, regularly disregarded the prohibitions and, according to tradition, came to Jerusalem with his wife for all the festivals. In the merit of fulfilling the commandment to visit the Temple with great joy, G-d rewarded him with the gift of prophecy. And since Jonah's father was from the tribe of Zebulun, renowned for its seafarers and diplomats, G-d prepared a special mission for Jonah: he was to go to Nineveh and deliver a prophecy to its citizens that would move them to repent of their sins and mend their ways.
Jonah is distraught. First, he knows that the inhabitants of Nineveh are not Jews, so they seldom hear prophecies. This means that his prophecy will make an enormous impression on them, and, being unaccustomed to such messages, they will take it fully to heart and mend their ways. Meanwhile, the Jews, to whom thousands of prophets have been sent, remain deaf to them, do not respond to their warnings, and refuse to change anything. Compared with the non-Jews who have mended their ways, the Jews will look even worse. Worse than they really are! G-d's anger at the disobedient Jews will not be long in coming. The non-Jews who have mended their ways, the inhabitants of Nineveh, will become an instrument in the Almighty's hands.
And second? Jonah most likely reasons as follows: Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, which exiled the 10 tribes living in northern Israel. If the inhabitants of Nineveh mend their ways, the Jews of the north will have nothing left to do but await a great calamity: they will suffer the harshest punishment, and the Assyrians will become the instrument of that punishment. But suppose Jonah does not tell the Assyrians the prophecy? They will not mend their ways and will not be able to serve as a rod in G-d's hands for striking the Jews.
And Jonah is prepared to sacrifice his life, if only to avoid being involved in something that would inevitably bring suffering upon the Jewish people.
Jonah decides to flee. (You cannot flee from the Almighty, but you can flee from prophecy.)
Let us explain. Jonah knows the following about a particular aspect of prophecy: it cannot be received outside the Land of Israel. This is because the Almighty created the world, giving each region its own character. (There are people of the north, south, west, and east, with different personalities and temperaments… Every place in this world differs in the same way.) The distinctive quality of the Land of Israel is that prophecy is received only here (see “KUZARI”).
So far, Jonah has received only the first part of the prophecy: “Go and speak to the inhabitants of Nineveh,” but what exactly he is to tell them is not yet known. He must flee Israel in time; then he will be unable to receive the complete prophecy. This is what Jonah wants most of all.
In the ancient world, the only way to escape truly far away was to sail off on a ship.
Jonah runs to the port and pays to charter an entire ship, together with its crew, with only one goal in mind: to be taken away as quickly as possible.
(From this we conclude that Jonah was very wealthy; chartering a vessel and paying the sailors and captain cost a great deal of money. Another conclusion: every prophet had to be wealthy in order to be on a firm footing.)
A certain connection can be traced between the prophet Elijah and the prophet Jonah. Elijah is said to have stood up “for the father,” meaning the Almighty, while Jonah stood up “for the son,” meaning the Jewish people, who had strayed from the right path.
to be continued