Through the Book of Jonah, we allow themes of repentance and forgiveness to resonate even more deeply. Through teachings from Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz, Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, we invite you to connect with the themes in a new way.
Judaism Unbound: The Book of Jonah
This Yom Kippur, Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg look at the four major biblical readings associated with the holiday. They ask how these texts can apply to twenty-first-century life, and they provide a variety of answers, including many that incorporate historical understandings of the Bible gleaned from biblical source criticism. In this episode, they tackle the Book of Jonah.
Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz: Jonah: Rebirth and Resurrection
Jonah provides us with a model of repentance. However, we find that he is also associated with resurrection in some midrashic collections. Where does this image of Jonah come from? Is it helpful to us as a religious metaphor? How should we think about Jonah when we read it on Yom Kippur? Listen to this recording from the 2016 Hadar Community Beit Midrash.
Bill Gordh: Jonah and the Whale – A Musical Retelling
In this musical retelling of the story of Jonah, Bill Gordh highlights the message that, on some level, each of us knows the right thing to do in our hearts. Of course, that does not mean it’s always easy to make that choice. This story in song follows the consequences of this decision.