Others go down to the sea in ships, ply their trade in the mighty waters;

they have seen the works of the LORD and His wonders in the deep.

By His word He raised a storm wind that made the waves surge.

Mounting up to the heaven, plunging down to the depths, disgorging in their misery,

they reeled and staggered like a drunken man, all their skill to no avail.

In their adversity they cried to the LORD, and He saved them from their troubles.

And Jonah prayed—A great miracle happened, that he was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, yet he survived; and another miracle, that he was not stupefied, but he retained his faculties and was able to pray.

They arose and every one called upon the name of his god, but it availed nought. Now Jonah, because of the anguish of his soul, was slumbering and asleep. The captain of the ship came to him saying: “Behold, we are standing betwixt death and life, and thou art slumbering and sleeping

What did they do? They took Jonah and they stood on the side of the ship, saying, God of the world! O Lord! Do not lay upon us innocent blood, for we do not know what sort of person is this man; and he says deliberately, On my account has this misfortune befallen you. They took him (and cast him into the sea) up to his knee-joints, and the sea-storm abated. They took him up again to themselves and the sea became agitated again against them. They cast him in (again) up to his neck, and the sea-storm abated. Once more they lifted him up in their midst and the sea-storm was again agitated against them, until they cast him in entirely and forthwith the seastorm abated, as it is said, “So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her raging.” “And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” Rabbi Tarphon said: That fish was specially appointed from the six days of creation to swallow up Jonah, as it is said, “And the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”

What did he do? He set the men on one side and the women on the other; all the pure animals on one side and the impure animals on the other; the mothers on one side and their young on the other. The young saw their mothers' breasts and want to suck at them, and the mothers saw their young and want to suckle them - and they wept. And there were more than 120,000 human beings [in Nineveh], as it is said: "Shall I not have pity on Nineveh that great city....?'

God created the world as a consequence of His compassion. For He wanted to reveal His compassion, and if Creation had not taken place, to whom would He have shown His compassion? He therefore created the entire creation, from the inception of Atzilut all the way down to the center point of the corporeal world, in order to display His compassion. Yet when God wanted to create the world, there was no place in which to create it, since there was nothing but Ein Sof (the Infinite One). He therefore contracted the Light to the sides, and through this contraction the Vacated Space was made. Then, within this Vacated Space, all time and space came into existence—this being the creation of the world {as explained at the beginning of Etz Chaim} . This Vacated Space was necessary for the creation of the world, since without the Vacated Space there would have been no place in which to create the world, as explained above. Yet, understanding and comprehending this contraction [that resulted in the formation] of the Vacated Space will be possible only in the Future, since it is necessary to say about it two contradictory things: existence and nonexistence. The Vacated Space is the result of the contraction; that [God], so to speak, withdrew His Godliness from that place. Thus there is, so to speak, no Godliness there. Were it not so, it would not be vacated. There would then be nothing but Ein Sof, with no place whatsoever for the world’s creation. However the actual truth is that, even so, there is surely Godliness there as well. For there is surely nothing without His life-force. This is why it is not at all possible to comprehend the concept of the Vacated Space until the Future.

You hedge me before and behind; You lay Your hand upon me. It is beyond my knowledge; it is a mystery; I cannot fathom it. Where can I escape from Your spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I descend to Sheol, You are there too. If I take wing with the dawn to come to rest on the western horizon, even there Your hand will be guiding me, Your right hand will be holding me fast. If I say, “Surely darkness will conceal me, night will provide me with cover,” darkness is not dark for You; night is as light as day; darkness and light are the same. It was You who created my conscience; You fashioned me in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made; Your work is wonderful; I know it very well. My frame was not concealed from You when I was shaped in a hidden place, knit together in the recess