"Yonah Matza bo Manoach," "The Dove Found a Resting Place on that Shabbat" Noach is taken to task and denied the title of "Faithful Shepherd" because of his apparently insufficient efforts to rouse his contemporaries to repent. For that was why, according to RASHI and the Midrash, he was given one hundred twenty years to work in public on his Project of Salvation, the "Tevah," Noah’s Ark. When someone would ask him what in the world he was doing, he should have responded effectively and convincingly that G-d had told him that the world faced destruction because of its behavior, and the only thing that could avert the catastrophe and avoid the world-destroying waves of the Flood would be a worldwide wave of "Teshuvah," or Repentance. Having not succeeded in that part of his mission, "Captain" Noach obeys G-d scrupulously in gathering the specimens of life to be saved, including the members of his immediate family, and loading the motley crew and even more motley group of "passengers" on board the "Tevah." (Bereshit/Noach 7:7-9) After the "Tevah" comes to rest on the upper slopes of Mt. Ararat, Noach determines the suitability of the earth for re-population by human beings by conducting the first recorded scientific experiment. (Bereshit/Noach 8:6-12) First, he sends out an "orev," a raven, then a "yonah," a dove, to provide empirical evidence that Hashem’s wrath has subsided. The "yonah" succeeds in this mission. When the "yonah" brings back an olive branch to show that vegetation has resumed on earth, and then is "motze bo manoach; " that is, it finds, on Shabbat according to the Midrash, a resting place and does not return, Noach realizes that the "Mabul," the Great Flood, is over. It is most likely not an accident that later in Jewish History there is a Prophet named Yonah who is given the task of saving a large human population, the citizens of the "Great City" of Nineveh, from destruction because of their wickedness, by convincing them that they can avert their fate by repenting. In one of the most amazing accounts in all of the Bible, Yonah literally attempts to flee from G-d, and escape from this mission! RASHI explains Yonah’s seemingly bizarre behavior in attempting to disobey G-d, who uses a violent storm, very localized in this case, according to the Midrash, rather than global, to discipline him, as based on his desire not to cause the Jewish People to "look bad." He knew that the King and residents of Nineveh had strong spiritual leanings, and would most likely respond favorably to his announcement. Whereas the Jewish People had a rather poor "track record’ when it came to obeying the messages of Prophets. We learn from the story of Yonah a number of important lessons. That is why it was selected by the "Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah," the Men of the Great Assembly, who composed in early post-Temple times the contents of the "Minchah," the Afternoon Service of "Yom Kippur," the Day of Atonement, as well as all the other components of the Prayer Service on that Holy Day. First an analogy. When the Talmud discusses the extent of the obligation of "Honor your father and your mother," an example is brought from the non-Jewish world. The example cited involved an incident in which officials of the Temple required a certain precious stone for one of the central "garments" of the High Priest, and would have paid a "fortune" for it. The family of Dama, the son of Nesina, was in possession of such a stone, and it was under the pillow of Dama's sleeping father, when officials of the Temple arrived at their door, "checkbook," so to speak, in hand. The son was willing to forego that fortune in order not to disturb the sleep of his father (though his father, upon waking, might have disapproved of that behavior). Very similarly, Jewish Tradition brings a lesson of the power of Teshuvah from the Biblical Story of Nineveh, a "Great City" of the Gentile World, and its positive response to a prophetic call for repentance. On the "Yamim Noraim," the Awesome Days of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we say "…and Repentance and Prayer and Charity can avert the Evil Decree." In the Story of Nineveh, we see that the King commanded the residents to fast and don sackcloth (Teshuvah), to call out to G-d with all their strength (Prayer), and to change their evil behavior when it came to dealing with their fellow man, their "chamas," or violence, which was the chief sin of the Generation of the Flood, (Charity). And we see that unlike kings of flesh and blood, who are unwilling to reverse their decrees, Hashem, as it were, "tore up" the evil decree of destruction against the city, even as He would have forgiven the Generation of the Flood and the inhabitants of Sodom, had they changed their ways. The Jewish People does not have a monopoly on moral behavior, even though we are at a very distinct advantage in having it spelled out for us in the Torah. We live in "the best of times, and the worst of times." "The best of times" in the sense that Yeshivot and other valid institutions of religion are springing up everywhere. "The worst of times" in that there is severe drought in Israel, revisionists who reject the idea of "holiness" are revising the texts of Jewish History, and attempting, in the Holy Land, to re-define the Bible as the product, not distinct from others, of human intelligence. What we could use is a nation-wide tidal wave of Teshuvah, which could lead to a similar world-wide wave, to bring us back into favor in the eyes of our Creator. Rabbi Pinchas Frankel Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU |
