This week we read the story of Noach and the Great flood. Judy Klitsner highlights many connections between the Noach story and the story of Yonah which we read on Yom Kippur.
Klitsner states, "both Yonah and Noach are prophets that navigate perilous waters aboard their boats,apart from the doomed populations they might have saved. ... Both have the rare locations of Tarshish and Ninveh and both contain 40 day periods involving destruction" . The most glaring connection she points out is both stories contain a ‘Yonah’, the title character of one story and the type of bird that returns to Noach with a branch which indicated to Yonah there was dry land.
If we understand the role the Yonah /dove plays in the Noach story we can better understand Yonah in his own story, and we can understand our role as Jews in a deeper light. This technique is called intertextual analysis, examining two interrelated or parallel stories to shed light on one another. I highly recommend the book “Subversive Sequels” for further reading.
In the Noach, the dove or yonah represents hope. The dove returning with the olive branch signals to Noach that the world can once again become habitable. Today, a dove with an olive branch symbolizes peace, the hope of a better world. This symbolism is what the person Yonah represents in his story. He is the hope for the city of Ninveh, just as the Jews are the hope for all of mankind.
Yonah’s story is a microcosm for the Jewish nation as a whole and a major lesson ought to be learned. We are to be "a nation of priests" . Every Jew has a responsibility to "be a light on to the nations". To bring peace and hope to all of mankind . Both Noach and Yonah had opportunities to enlighten the world, yet they avoided it in different ways. Both stories end with our main character alone, defeated, lying down and out of society. Modern Orthodoxy states that we cannot seclude ourselves from society. Let us learn from Noach and Yonah. We must take an active role in forming and shaping its values, as the Jews have for the past 2,000 years.
Klitsner states, "both Yonah and Noach are prophets that navigate perilous waters aboard their boats,apart from the doomed populations they might have saved. ... Both have the rare locations of Tarshish and Ninveh and both contain 40 day periods involving destruction" . The most glaring connection she points out is both stories contain a ‘Yonah’, the title character of one story and the type of bird that returns to Noach with a branch which indicated to Yonah there was dry land.
If we understand the role the Yonah /dove plays in the Noach story we can better understand Yonah in his own story, and we can understand our role as Jews in a deeper light. This technique is called intertextual analysis, examining two interrelated or parallel stories to shed light on one another. I highly recommend the book “Subversive Sequels” for further reading.
In the Noach, the dove or yonah represents hope. The dove returning with the olive branch signals to Noach that the world can once again become habitable. Today, a dove with an olive branch symbolizes peace, the hope of a better world. This symbolism is what the person Yonah represents in his story. He is the hope for the city of Ninveh, just as the Jews are the hope for all of mankind.
Yonah’s story is a microcosm for the Jewish nation as a whole and a major lesson ought to be learned. We are to be "a nation of priests" . Every Jew has a responsibility to "be a light on to the nations". To bring peace and hope to all of mankind . Both Noach and Yonah had opportunities to enlighten the world, yet they avoided it in different ways. Both stories end with our main character alone, defeated, lying down and out of society. Modern Orthodoxy states that we cannot seclude ourselves from society. Let us learn from Noach and Yonah. We must take an active role in forming and shaping its values, as the Jews have for the past 2,000 years.
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