Lessons from Jonah.

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Welcome to 5777. That’s the year, according to Jewish Tradition.  We’ve just finished Sukot, one of the 3 Festivals delineated in the Tora (the others are Pesach [Passover] and Shvuot [Pentecost]),  a time of joy and celebration. The past two holidays of this month were called Yamim Noraim, Days of Awe (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur)- in other words, they were holy days and not holidays.

And, one of the things we do on Yom Kipur afternoon (besides craving food and/or water) is to read and listen to the book of Yona (Jonah). I am sure you know the story, where Jonah refuses a mission from Hashem to save the people of Nineveh (he was to tell them to repent) and attempts to hide. Yeah, right, hide from the Supreme Being. Anyway, while on a ship, Hashem provides a terrible storm, Yona realizes it’s because of him, and tells the crew to throw him overboard. When he is immediately swallowed by a great fish (not clear that it’s a whale).

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Most people think we are told to study this book because it provides a model for repentance. If we repent- truly and completely- we can be saved. (When Yona finally does get to Nineveh, the king orders all to repent over three days; the city is saved as a result.)

I am not so sure that’s the real reason we are told to study Yona. I always wonder about the manifold facts of this history. First of all, Yona, a Jewish prophet, is commanded to go to a city that is NOT Jewish and inform them that the Supreme Being is ticked off; that it is way past time to mend their ways.

Yona lived during the time of Yerovaam (the Second), somewhere around 786 to 746 BCE (3186 to 3226 or so in the Jewish calendar).  Yerovaam was king during one of the most stable periods in Israel, ruling Moab and Syria; Yerovaam even controlled the Kingdom of Judah.  So, sending Yona to help other people repent would not put Israel at risk.

It also meant that these other peoples would get to see the “Shining Light to the World” that Israel was supposed to be. Because it would show they cared enough to help other folks succeed and prosper. (Kind of like America thought it was doing by exporting “democracy” around the world.)

And, by helping Nineveh repent, Yona would be working for “global peace”, maybe even “global prosperity”. That mission is the central commandment Jews have been provided. (Sure, we are to keep the 613 mitzvot [commandments]- but that is part and parcel of our mission to “repair the world”.) The mission of Tikun Olam existed then- and is still extant.

It’s our focus to make this world a better place, to wake folks up to the proper way of living, recognize that we are all interconnected. In so doing, we all gain.

Given the state of acrimony that exists in this world, the recognition that many nations will be short (or devoid) of water soon enough (less than 50 years from now), and much of the world’s coastal properties will be submerged by the rising seas (same time frame), it’s time for all of us to adopt this mission.

Whether you call it Tikun Olam or Upworthy makes no difference. It’s the act – and continued action- that counts.

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