Message from Jonah
Sep 24, 2012, 10:49 AM | Updated: Oct 10, 2012, 9:00 am
On September 26th, Jewish communities around the world will observe Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement -seeking God’s forgiveness for our shortcomings in the year just passed.
The afternoon liturgy for this solemn day of fasting and prayer features the Book of Jonah – telling of the prophet who tried to escape from his assigned mission, but was redeemed by God even from the belly of a great fish.
Most significantly, Jonah’s ultimate warning to Nineveh led the people of that wicked city to repent, to fast, to cry out to the Lord and, according to the Bible, to “turn from their evil ways.” The forgiveness granted to non-Jewish Nineveh is meant to encourage us to use the same means – fasting, prayer, repentance and a correction in our behavior – to achieve atonement and a renewed connection to the Almighty.