Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur - 5778
Rosh Hashanah/
Yom Kippur - 5778
Rabbi Hal Miller
Then Hashem designated a large fish to swallow Yonah, and Yonah
remained in the fish's belly three days and three nights. [Yonah 2:1]
What was this "large fish" that swallowed Yonah? How could Yonah survive in the
belly of any creature? Why is this relevant for the holidays of Rosh Hashanah or
Yom Kippur?
I have had a really tough period of late, with lots of opportunities for self-evaluation
and introspection. I am constantly asking, not "why do I deserve this?" but "please accept
my suffering as repentance and guide me on how I should do things differently to improve
myself." This is the crux of the high holy days.
On Rosh Hashanah, we pray for a better future. On Yom Kippur, we ask forgiveness for the
things we have done wrong that have led us to a less-than-ideal present. The order of
these seems a bit odd. Wouldn't it seem more natural to plead for forgiveness, and only
then to ask for a better future? Why is it structured as it is?
We see this reflected in the story of Yonah, that we read today.
The simple reading of the first part of our verse is that he was swallowed by a large
fish. In fact, the next verse says that "Yonah prayed to Hashem, his G-d, from the fish's
belly," [2:2] which confirms all of our verse and this simple interpretation. But then it gets
more difficult. The rest of the sentence is in [2:3] and reads, "and said: 'I called in my
distress to Hashem and He answered me. From the belly of the lower world I cried out,
You heard my voice." So what is this "belly of the lower world", or as Hirsch translates it,
"belly of the grave"?
Rav Hirsch notes that Yonah was swallowed twice, once by the sea, then by the "monster"
as he calls it. He writes, "The fact that he did not die of suffocation, but remained alive for
three days in the belly of the fish, convinced Yonah that it was his life, not his death, that
was desired by G-d, and that the creature that had swallowed him was sent by G-d to be
the means of his salvation." He then notes that the gender of the word naming this fish
changes. He says, "The the creature which was carrying him in its inside through the
waters was no longer as in [2:1], masculine, a death-dealing monster swallowing him
up, it had become feminine to him [2:2], an accommodating, willing, obedient creature in
the service of the rescuing Providence of G-d."
Further, when Rav Hirsch calls it the "belly of the grave," he describes it as the deepest
depths of the sea, the lowest point that man can fall to, and from which Yonah is raised
by G-d.
So, we have a monster, a fish, a creature, male then female, death-dealing then
helpful. It is a grave, the depths of the sea, a container that should smother Yonah yet
does not. In fact, from it, Yonah rises from that lowest depth and goes on to complete
G-d's mission. No such creature could exist in nature, so we are forced to recognize
the hand of G-d, as Yonah himself was forced.
While we can say that G-d created this creature miraculously, we can also read the story
as allegory. Yonah had decided to run from his divinely-assigned role, as though it was
within his power to accept or reject what G-d told him to do. He spent three days in
contemplation, and realized that the power in the world is not human. He returned
from denial to recognition of G-d's absolute power, whether through a fish or through
introspection made no difference.
Radak looked at the word 'designated', which is sometimes translated 'appointed'. He
says that it means 'provided'. He writes, "Yonah was cast into the sea. Accordingly, it
was a miracle that the fish swallowed him just then, and he did not drown." This could
be understood that this creature was not something created during the original creation,
but was only made now. Rav Tarfon in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer thus tells us this fish "had
been specially designated from the six days of Creation to swallow up Yonah," and thus
we read Radak as "G-d had readied", past tense. Further, this is proof that G-d lives
outside of time, and knows the future.
How does Yonah fit in with my original question about the order of Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur?
Yonah began by making an error. He took things into his own hands and set a course for
his future. Doing so was a denial of G-d. When he recognized this error, he told the
sailors to toss him overboard, reversing his denial as a prayer for an improved future.
But he had not yet made up for what he had done to G-d. To accomplish that requires a
second step. The fish story is the process through which Yonah came to beg forgiveness
from G-d.
We today are swallowed in the belly of a great fish, caught by our misdeeds and thoughts,
unable to escape without Divine assistance. We have already asked for a brighter future.
Before G-d will grant that request, we need to pay the bill. Yom Kippur is the creature
given to us by G-d as the means of bringing this about. Had Yonah not already appealed
to G-d for his salvation, then his teshuvah would have had no tie to reward. Had we not
had the opportunity to pray on Rosh Hashanah for a good year, our teshuvah today would
leave us without a future.
A successful, happy new year to all.