So, I'm back from shul. And exhausted.

[xiphias]

Yeah. Sleepy. Yom Kippur is really, really spiritually uplifting and all that, and totally, completely exhausting. It takes a lot out of you. Really, I suppose, it takes EVERYTHING out of you -- that's the point.

And now I've got to do class prep for tomorrow morning. Sleepy. . .

Anyway, there was a bit of excitement this afternoon at services. We were having a discussion on what "forgiveness" was, and how it worked and all that, and all of a sudden there was a crash and a circular hole appeared in one of the windows.

So I ran outside to see what happened. If someone HAD thrown a rock at the window, I wanted to make sure to get outside before they got away.

I saw a ten-year old boy, in a kippah and a little suit jacket. He was holding a paper airplane and looked a bit shaken.

"Did you see what happened?" I asked.
"I didn't do it," he replied.
"Didn't do what?"
"Nothing," he said.

"Aha," I thought.

I walked back in, and Cherie (the rabbi), asked me what I'd found out. I reported the conversation, and a wave of relieved laughter swept the chapel.

I sat back down and realized what I SHOULD have done. Which would have been to tell the kid that everyone in the chapel was really worried because they thought someone had attacked the shul, and everyone would be really relieved and happy if they found out it was just an accident. But I didn't do that, and I'm kicking myself. It would have been an excellent learning experience for the kid, and I missed that opportunity.

As far as we can work out, there was already a circular crack most of the way through the window. He probably leaned on it, and the combination of that pressure, along, probably, with the temperature change between his hand and the window, caused the window to crack the rest of the way, and blow in. It was double-paned glass, and the inner window didn't break, so nobody was hurt.

We also had an interesting discussion, later in the day, about the book of Jonah. I still stand by my claim that it's really a parody of the book of Judges. I mean, c'mon. Jonah is the ONLY prophet who ever had any success in changing people's behavior. He's also the only one who was sent to a non-Jewish nation, and the whole story is really piss-your-pants funny. Giant fish! Cows covered in sackcloth! A prophet complaining to G-d, "Isn't this JUST what I said would happen? Didn't I SAY you'd just wimp out and forgive them?" Giant squash plants! The capital of the Assyrian empire acting righteously! I mean, this is all funny, funny stuff.

Y'know, Isaiah's prophesies are like sixty-six chapters of some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever seen. Eziekel, same thing. Jonah? His prophesy is five words: "Forty days more, Nineveh is overthrown." Okay, it's six words in English. It's five words in Hebrew. That's ALL he says. He doesn't even stick in the "Repent or Else" bit. The king of Nineveh has to figure that out for himself.

Which doesn't mean that it lacks important, true lessons. It's partially because it's a parody, and because it's so funny, that it contains such impressive lessons about redemption, repentence, and finding the right way

Comments

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Jonah *is* very funny. Of course, I always thought the story of Samson was pretty amusing, too.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

The one I *really* like is at the very end, where God's saying, "Well, you know, there are all these people there. And also, lots of cows."

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I offer you validation from John Buehrens' Understanding the Bible: An introduction for skeptics, seekers, and religious liberals.

"It speaks well for the editors who finally assembled the literary prophets that they knew the need for a little redemptive humor. The story of the prophet Jonah provides some. Although most scholars date this parable, or satire, as late, around 350 B.C.E., because it has to do with a prophetic ministry aimed against the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, the setting is in the eighth century. So it can be read as a commentary of the classical prophets. The story is meant to be funny, a point that is often lost on those who take it literally."

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh, the discussion on Jonah included the comment by the rabbi that this was supposed to be funny. She commented that there are discussions in the Talmud about various things in the Bible and how they might have really came about -- and they don't even try for the Book of Jonah. They just say straight out, "This is a fairy tale."

That was the premise of the discussion, really. "Given that this is humor, and fiction, what is it about this piece of humorous fiction that is so important that we are to read it in the afternoon of the most holy and solemn day of the year?"

I really think that understanding that question -- not even finding the answer, but just asking and thinking about the question -- really changes one's feelings about what Yom Kippur is supposed to be like, and be about. There's a big difference between a day in which you are supposed to fast and afflict oneself and torment oneself for one's sins over the past year -- which is how a lot of people see Yom Kippur -- and a day in which you don't eat, but you read humor fiction about religion. There's something really weird and important going on with Yom Kippur that's not at all obvious, but that the very fact that we read Jonah illuminates.

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Well, the people listened to Deborah, so we know the Jews listened to at least one of their prophets....

Of course, Deborah can be seen more as the "shield-maiden" type, but, then again, who's counting? ;-)

Btw, my favorite part of Jonah is actually in Rashi's commentary--when he has to explain a) how Jonah was swallowed by the big fish (the Hebrew, "Dag Gadol" does *not* translate to "whale," no matter how you parse it), and b) why he wasn't digested. I just think it's cool when even the Medieval commentators feel the need to scientifically discuss a miracle. ;-)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, Deborah was a judge, not a prophet. . .

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Good point, however, the rabbis placed the book of Judges as a chapter of the Sefer Nevi'im (Book of Prophets) because the Judges were also prophets in their own right--just as the first prophet, Moshe, also judged the people.

Sure they didn't get the visions that the other prophets got, and they were no Joshua (who the people listened to, regardless of Moshe's worries at the end of Devarim--note the last weekly portion--Netzavim/Vayeilech--which we read before Rosh Hashana, and Rashi's commentary on that portion), who was the only other prophet to "hear" G-d (even though he never spoke with G-d face-to-face, like Moshe did, according to Rashi).

Also, before and after (and even during) the Kings, the Prophets (including the Judges) were leaders of the Jews in a similar way to Moshe. The Kings were supposed to be prophets as well, however, most of them were corrupt, hence the reason we needed prophets again.

Then again, it's been a while since I've studied any of this, but I can look it all up in my Mikra'ot Gedolot Tanach, if you like--that's usually more thorough than Rabbi Art Scroll. ;-)