“Take me up and cast me into the sea.”
The book of Jonah, to quote Churchill, is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” The simplicity of the story belies the complexity and obscurity that lies just beneath the surface.
Filled with questions, from beginning to end, its characters - human, animal and plant - are fascinating, and some frankly unbelievable. A prophet who fights his destiny, an evil city that makes good... and a big fish. Yet, not only is it part of the Jewish canon, but part of the service on the holiest day of the year - Yom Kippur.
Join the Academy of Jewish Thought and Learning and Ilana Stein on a textual, personal, communal, national and spiritual voyage 20,000 leagues into the murky depths as we delve into the language and concepts of this most fascinating book with works and words across the breadth of the Tanach. Discover the value of teshuvah, return, reinvigoration, repentance and revolution encapsulated in the belly of this powerful book.
Because the voyage is sometimes more powerful than the destination!
