Sefer Yonah / סֶפֶר יוֹנָה / the Book of Jonah is a bit of a mysterious text. It’s one of the shortest books in the whole Tanach (acronym for the Torah, Nevi’im/Prophets, and Ketuvim/Writings). Unlike most prophetic texts, Jonah is a narrative; a story. It follows a reluctant prophet as he tries to run away from God, gets tossed overboard from his getaway ship, spends three days in deep prayer in the belly of a fish, and then successfully turns the people of one of the world’s largest cities away from their sinful ways and towards God.

Biblical scholars have called it everything from a parable to a satire. Beyond its fantastical plotline: How could the most reluctant of God’s prophets also be the most successful? Where other prophets were famously shunned, ignored, and exiled, Jonah–once he gets over his own heebie-jeebies–is immediately heeded.

The Book of Jonah is read on the afternoon of Yom Kippur. Perhaps this is because of the theme of repentance that represents a narrative thread throughout the text. Other possibilities include the idea that human beings cannot possibly know how or why God works the way They do, or the idea that sometimes the universalist Divine vision of the world runs roughly up against our own particularist tendencies. No matter how you slice it, it’s a thought-provoking and invigorating text.

Below, you will find a ten-second summary of each of the four chapters, plus some discussion questions and activities for you and your Community Members to explore.