Yonah’s Gourd: What Can It Teach Us About The Teshuva Process?

Narrative Summary:

Year after year, we stand in shul on Yom Kippur and regret the same actions, say the same words, and resolve to improve the same deficiencies. Even if we do manage to make changes, we know that it’s likely that we will relapse. A cynic could make the reasonable observation that our resolutions are weaker than our temptations, and the prediction that, no matter how sincerely we confess and try to do better, it is very likely that next year we will be confessing the same sins and making the same attempts to change.

When חז"ל chose Sefer Yonah as the Haftorah for Mincha of Yom Kippur, they made an inspired choice. On the surface, the story is a simple story of rebuke, change, repentance and forgiveness. My approach to finding meaning in Sefer Yonah emerges from several observations:

• The story doesn’t conclude with the end of Chapter 3 when God has forgiven the people and rescinded the decree of destruction.

• Yonah is unhappy that God rescinded the decree because he doesn’t think that their repentance was sincere and would be long-lasting.

• Yonah is exceedingly happy about the gourd.

• The standard approach doesn’t fully account for why the wind was a necessary part of the story.

• When God summons the worm, it can’t be that He is gratuitously seeking to increase Yonah’s suffering. Rather, He must be trying to teach him a lesson.

• Agricultural work is compared to something, but it can’t be God’s labor because, by definition, God doesn’t labor.

• I don’t believe that the text considers animals to be moral subjects who deserve the same considerations as human beings.

I’d like to read the story as showing that, in contrast to Yonah, God values sincere change no matter how briefly it lasts. Yonah is angry at God because Yonah doesn’t believe that the people of Nineveh have made efforts which will bring lasting changes to the moral fabric of their society. Yonah’s anger that God forgave the people anyway may be understandable in light of Yonah's concern for his reputation (if the destruction that Yonah prophesied doesn’t come to fruition, then he might be viewed as a false prophet), or in light of his concern for Bnei Yisrael (who might look bad when contrasted to the people of Nineveh, or who might later lose in battle to the people of Nineveh).

But why was Yonah both angry and suicidal? I’d like to read into Chapter 4 that Yonah identified with the struggle of his fellow human beings to change, and that he was profoundly discouraged and disappointed by what he saw as their inability to make lasting, sincere changes to their characters and deeds. Going further, I think Yonah is disappointed by what he sees in his own past; he too has tried and failed to make such changes. In other words, his anger becomes a case of the, “The things that we most loudly condemn in our fellow human beings, are the things that we identify in ourselves as our biggest failures.” In my reading, Yonah's exaggerated grief (anger and suicidality) at the beginning of Chapter 4 is really self-directed.

Yonah resolves to show himself, God, and the people of Ninveh that sincere change can be accomplished. He leaves the city so that he can remove himself from things that tempt him. He makes his best effort to fashion a protective structure with which to defend himself. But all that he can manage in his discouraged state is to build a flimsy structure (Sukkah) with inadequate defenses (Schach). Despite his resolve, Yonah is not at all certain that he will succeed this time either.

The message of Sefer Yonah is that if our resolution to change is sincere, God is willing to partner with us (provide a gourd overlay on top of our inadequate efforts) and give us another chance. This fresh beginning can lead to great optimism (Yonah was exceedingly glad). Further, Sefer Yonah teaches us that dwelling in isolation from the world and its temptations is a means to self-change but not an end in and of itself. At some point, God will remove his support (the gourd withers and dies) and we will be left with whatever changes we have succeeded in securing into place (the underlying Schach). When those changes are so fleeting that they disappear the next day (both, the gourd and the Yonah’s Schach blew away – OR – the gourd blew away and left behind Yonah’s inadequate un-improved covering), a sincere penitent may feel extreme self-disappointment (Yonah was suicidal). This is an understandable response to our seeming inability to effect self-change.

In my reading, God is willing to grant us another chance because He sees that some good can come from sincere but fleeting attempts to change: Sincere attempts add up and, if we let them, they can help change us over time. This means that the more times we go through a sincere Teshuva process—even if we relapse and will need to do Teshuva again for the same things—the more likely it becomes that we will be able to “kick the habit” the next time. Many times, I’ve cynically beat my chest on Yom Kippur and thought, “Oh, here I am again! Confessing to the same sins! Resolving to do better about the same issue as I confessed to last year. And the year before that. And the year before that....” Instead, Sefer Yonah teaches that we should allow our fleeting attempts at Teshuva to change us and to encourage us to think that, this time, we really can make it work.

I think the message is hinted at in the last two words of the book, “And many animals.” Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to train a dog (or a child, or a spouse), knows that it’s best done through a process of operant conditioning and encouragement. When you get a new puppy, you may want to leash-train him so that you can go on a walk without his pulling your arm out of its socket. To do this, you’ll need to train him to sit at the corner and wait for you to give a signal before entering the crosswalk. The training is a process. Initially, you get to the corner, firmly push his tush down to the sidewalk, and immediately give him a treat and verbal encouragement. You repeat this about a hundred times. Eventually, he may sit for the treat without needing your firm push. Some time later, he’ll do it for the verbal encouragement alone. And after many weeks or months, you won’t need to treat him or even praise him each time, because he’ll know to sit himself down at the corner and wait for your signal to cross.

However, your dog’s progress will not be linear. Sometimes, he’ll get excited. Or distracted by something small (is that a worm?). Or just forget. On those occasions, he’ll need your forbearance, your kind words, your treat, or your firm push. Experience teaches us that he’ll eventually get there. But the process might better be described as, “Two crosswalks forward, and one crosswalk back.”

In my mind, we might read the last 2 words of Sefer Yonah as “K’behema raba, כבהמה רבה” (“like a lot of animals”). The people, in their imperfect attempts to change, are “like a lot of animals” who will need to make many attempts to change. Some of those attempts will succeed; many will fail. But, eventually, like a puppy who is given enough chances, we can make lasting changes in our personalities and actions.

Comparisons: Warm Up

Yonah Chapter 4

Bathos (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos

Bathos (/ˈbeɪθɒs/ BAY-thoss;[1] Greek: βάθος, lit. "depth") is a literary term, coined by Alexander Pope in his 1727 essay "Peri Bathous",[1] to describe amusingly failed attempts at sublimity (i.e., pathos). In particular, bathos is associated with anticlimax, an abrupt transition from a lofty style or grand topic to a common or vulgar one. This may be either accidental (through artistic ineptitude) or intentional (for comic effect).[2][3] Intentional bathos appears in satiric genres such as burlesque and mock epic. "Bathos" or "bathetic" is also used for similar effects in other branches of the arts, such as musical passages marked ridicolosamente. In film, bathos may appear in a contrast cut intended for comic relief or be produced by an accidental jump cut.

Comparison: Standard Approach

Comparison: DBS Approach

Estimating the number of quit attempts it takes to quit smoking successfully in a longitudinal cohort of smokers

Michael Chaiton, Lori Diemert, Joanna E Cohen, Susan J Bondy, Peter Selby, Anne Philipneri, Robert Schwartz

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/Content /6/6/e011045

Objectives: The number of quit attempts it takes a smoker to quit successfully is a commonly reported figure among smoking cessation programmes, but previous estimates have been based on lifetime recall in cross-sectional samples of successful quitters only. The purpose of this study is to improve the estimate of number of quit attempts prior to quitting successfully.

Design: We used data from 1277 participants who had made an attempt to quit smoking in the Ontario Tobacco Survey, a longitudinal survey of smokers followed every 6 months for up to 3 years beginning in 2005. We calculated the number of quit attempts prior to quitting successfully under four different sets of assumptions. Our expected best set of assumptions incorporated a life table approach accounting for the declining success rates for subsequent observed quit attempts in the cohort.

Results: The estimated average number of quit attempts expected before quitting successfully ranged from 6.1 under the assumptions consistent with prior research, 19.6 using a constant rate approach, 29.6 using the method with the expected lowest bias, to 142 using an approach including previous recall history.

Conclusions: Previous estimates of number of quit attempts required to quit may be underestimating the average number of attempts as these estimates excluded smokers who have greater difficulty quitting and relied on lifetime recall of number of attempts. Understanding that for many smokers it may take 30 or more quit attempts before being successful may assist with clinical expectations.

Other Sources:

Chaiton M, Diemert L, Cohen JE, et al Estimating the number of quit attempts it takes to quit smoking successfully in a longitudinal cohort of smokers BMJ Open 2016;6:e011045. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011045

Grossman, R.Yonatan. Shiurim on Sefer Yonah. [Hebrew] This is a four-part series podcast in 2009 and available from the Virtual Beit Midrash http://www.etzion.org.il/.

Here are direct links to the 4 shiurim:

http://etzion.org.il/he/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7-%D7%90-1

http://etzion.org.il/he/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91-%D7%92

http://etzion.org.il/he/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%9-%D7%91-%D7%92-0

http://etzion.org.il/he/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7-%D7%93-0

“Jonah 4:1.” Jonah 4:1 with Commentary. Sefaria. Web. 16 May 2018.

“Jonah Chapter 4 יוֹנָה.” Jonah 21 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre. Web. 16 May 2018.

Shinan, Avigdor and Yair Zakovitch. The Book of Jonah: A New Israeli Commentary. [Hebrew] (Avi Chai: Tel Aviv, 2015).

Simon, Uriel. Jonah: Introduction and Commentary in Mikra Leyisra’el: A Bible Commentary for Israel: Obadia and Jonah [Hebrew], edited by Moshe Greenberg and Shumel Ahituv (Am Oved Publishers Ltd: Tel Aviv, 1992).

Sutherland, Amy. Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers (Viking Books: New York, 2007).

Appendix: List of study questions

1. Why do we read Sefer Yonah in its entirety as the Haftorah for Mincha of Yom Kippur?
2. Why do the people put sackcloth on their animals (3:8)?
3. Why does God forgive the people (3:10)?
4. Why doesn't the book end at the end of Chapter 3 when God forgave the people?
5. Why is Yonah angry with God that He forgave the people (4:1)?
6. Why does Yonah omit the word, אמת, from his paraphrase of the 13 attributes of mercy (4:2)?
7. Why is Yonah suicidal the first time (4:3)?
8. When Yonah leaves the city, what is he watching for (4:5)?
9. Why does Yonah build a Sukkah (4:5)?
10. Does Yonah do a good job with the construction (4:5)?
11. What does Yonah use to cover the Sukkah (4:5)?
12. What is a קיקיון plant (4:6)?
13. Why does God provide extra shade for Yonah (4:6)?
14. Why is Yonah extra happy about the plant that God provided (4:6)?
15. What does the worm represent (4:7)?
16. How long does the קיקיון last (4:7)?
17. What are two possible etymologies of the word (4:8) חרישית?
18. Does the wind blow something away (4:8)?
19. What does the sun represent (4:8)?
20. Why is Yonah suicidal a second time (4:8)? How is it different from the first time?
21. What do we learn from the dialogue between God and Yonah about his suicidality (4:9)?
22. What is the a fortiori argument comparing the plant and the city of Nineveh (4:10-11)?
23. What is the difference between "work for" and "grow" (4:10)?
24. If Yonah's rebuke caused the people to realize their evil ways (3:10), then why does God describe them as not knowing their right from their left hands (4:11)?
25. Why does God mention the animals (4:11)? How does that strengthen the argument?