Maftir Yonah

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The Haftora we read on Yom Kippur afternoon is called Maftir Yonah. It is the longest of all Haftoras, it consists of the entire book of Yona and three verses from the book of Micha. It tells the story of our prophet Yona, who Hashem sent on a mission to Nineveh, to tell them to repent for their bad ways. 

The Jewish people, at the time, were at odds with Yona, disrespecting him and calling him a false prophet. Because twice he foretold of calamities that the Jewish people would experience if they wouldn't do teshuva, and both times they didn't come to pass. However, the rule is, that if a prophet foretells of a future calamity, and it doesn't happen, it does not reflect on his status as a prophet, because Hashem prolongs His patience, and also if the people return to Hashem, like the people of Nineveh did, the calamity would be averted, and the Jewish people were not doing teshuva. Thinking that Nineveh would listen to him and repent, and it would look poorly on the Jewish people, he chose to run away. 

Everybody is familiar with the rest of the story. The ship he was running away on, was experiencing an abnormally rough sea, and at the same time, they were witnessing other ships passing by them in relative calm. They realized that it was from Hashem. They drew lots to see which of them were at fault. The lot pointed at Yona, who told them why this was happening, and they threw him off the boat. A fish swallowed him, and after three days he was spit out of the fish on the shore. He went to Nineveh, told them to repent and they did, and the city was saved. 

Leaving Nineveh, the sun was so hot, Hashem made a kikayon plant grow and Yona took shade under it. Then Hashem sent a worm to kill the kikayon, it couldn't shade him any more, and he began lamenting over the loss of the kikayon. Hashem reprimanded him, because he felt bad for the kikayon, which was no more than a plant, however about the city of Nineveh, which had over a million inhabitants, he was ready to allow them to be destroyed. 

The last few verses from Micha, remind us of Hashem's Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, central to Yom Kippur. 

Why is this Haftora read at mincha on Yom Kippur? 

First, like Yona, we can't run from Hashem, and from the mission he wants us to do. Second, it is a story about teshuva, and the power of teshuva, that even the wicked city of Nineveh, who were not Jewish, repented and were forgiven by Hashem. How much more so, if we do teshuva, He will grant us forgiveness. Also, we see that reading it or listening to it, evokes a wanting to do teshuva.. 

Our sages say, "You should know the power of teshuva, come and see from Pharaoh king of Egypt," that after he sinned he did teshuva, "he went and became king in Nineveh... and when Hashem sent for Yona to say prophecy about its destruction, Pharoah heard and he stood up and rend his garments, and he dressed in sack and ashes." As the Haftora tells us. 

It is said by mincha, because mincha on Yom Kippur is a preparation for the holiest prayer of the day, Neila, and because our sages say about the greatness of the mincha prayer, that Eliyahu wasn't answered, but by the mincha prayer. Mincha time on Yom Kippur is also the holiest time, it is called "raava d'raavin," the time of the "ultimate good will" of Hashem, and when it comes to doing teshuva, it's the most opportune time. 

It is our custom to call this Haftora Maftir Yonah. It begs the question: If it is all about teshuva, why don't we call it Haftoras teshuva? But we don't, another Haftora gets that designation, the Haftora of Shabbos Shuva, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It seems so strange and even callous to call the Haftora of the holiest day and the holiest time of that day, Maftir Yonah. There must be something about this name that recalls the holiness and the essence of the day. So why is it called Maftir Yonah? 

The answer that is given for this, is in accordance to what the Zohar says, that Yona is symbolic of the descent of the neshama into the body, from its incredible heights to the lowest place. The Zohar goes on to explain the details of the story of Yona and how they mirror the journey of the neshama. When the neshama is in the body, it has to deal with things that it never had to deal with in the highest of heights from where it came from. It would have to eat and drink and do other things that people have to do, just like animals. For the neshama to get the body to do what Hashem wants, it has to be like Yona, from the word onaa (trickery). The neshama has to use cleverness, involving itself in regular mundane matters, which are completely foreign to her, eating, drinking, working, etc., just so that the body and the animal soul will come along with her and serve Hashem. And that is the purpose of the neshama in the body, to influence it. 

The Haftora says, "And Yona got up and fled away from Hashem, to Tarshish," thinking that outside of Israel, he would stop to receive prophecy. Why do we read the whole book of Yona, the whole beginning of the story is not about teshuva, it is about Yona running away? Because he showed self sacrificed for the Jewish people. The law is, that a prophet is not permitted to quell his prophecy, but as mentioned earlier, he didn't want it to look bad for the Jewish people, because Nineveh would do teshuva, while they refused to. So great was his love for the Jewish people, that he was willing to go against the Torah law, to save them. This is because he understood that the Jewish people are one with Hashem, above Torah and mitzvahs, so he ran. 

The beginning of the Haftora brings out this special connection between the Jewish people and Hashem, and we want to emphasize this for two reasons. First, because emphasizing this connection between us and Hashem, will motivate us to do teshuva, since we would surely want to repair any strain on that relationship. And second, because we want Hashem to accept our teshuva more readily, since we are one with Him. 

The Haftora says, "The water was becoming increasingly turbulent around them... And they picked up Yona and threw him into the sea." 

The Rambam says, "A boat that seems like it's going to break because of its heavy load, and one of them stood up and lightened the load by tossing things into the sea, he is not liable, because the load on it, is like someone chasing after them, to kill them, he did a great mitzvah, because he tossed things and saved them." 

As mentioned above, the story of Yona, is the descent of the neshama into the world, and in this passage of the Rambam, we are taken deeper into the analogy. The neshama descends into the boat which is the body and it navigates through the waters all its life, the purpose is that when it reaches its destination, after a hundred and twenty years, the neshama is at a far higher level than when it first entered the body. 

There is always "a lot of water," meaning, that there are the worries of making a living and the normal responsibilities of life. Sometimes the water is calm and other times it is turbulent. And at times, it is so turbulent, "that it seems like it's going to break because of its heavy load." The load or the burden we carry are Torah and mitzvahs, and the very turbulent waters, is this dark and bitter exile. 

The Rambam says, "One of them stood up and lightened the load by tossing things into the sea." The "One" is Hashem, and when He sent us into the turbulent exile, He saw that we were going to break under the heavy load of Torah and mitzvahs, so He threw much of our load into the sea, not in a negative way, that He threw them out, rather, He placed them in the upper waters, in the heavenly abode, preserving them for us, until the time of Moshiach, when, "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem, like the waters cover the sea." 

When gems are thrown into the water, they are not destroyed, rather they are preserved until they are once again found, and at that time, they are more valuable than when they were first thrown in. 

From all the two hundred and forty eight positive mitzvahs, we are only able to keep eighty seven of them in exile. And the ones that we can't do, are some of the greatest and most serious of mitzvahs, the laws of purity and impurity, and all of the laws pertaining to the Temple service, even the Yom Kippur service, done by the Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies. 

Why did Hashem lighten our load of Torah and mitzvahs? This is because, as mentioned earlier, the Jewish people are higher than Torah and mitzvahs, meaning, that when it comes to saving the Jewish people, from drowning in the turbulent exile, Hashem tosses the burden and saves the Jewish people. And the Rambam says that He did a "great mitzvah." Because, what point is there to mitzvahs, if there are no Jewish people? And this is similar to the destruction of the Temple, Hashem destroyed His home of wood and stone and saved the Jewish people, because we are higher. 

Another explanation of the boat, is that it refers to Torah and mitzvahs, which protects us and saves us from the very turbulent waters of the exile. It is through keeping Torah and mitzvahs that we are saved, and the same Torah and mitzvahs refine the world and reveal the G-dly essence of all existence. We even have an affect on the nations of the world, as in the story of Yona, all the people of Nineveh, even their king, did teshuva. 

All of our effort to keep Torah and mitzvahs, brings us to our desired destination, the greatest revelation of Hashem, with the coming of Moshiach. As the Haftora says, "And the word of Hashem came to Yona a second time..." Meaning, that he received a higher level of prophecy. 

On the ship that Yona went on, there was a captain, sailors and passengers, yet Yona told them, "This great turbulence has come upon you because of me." This is an important lesson to us, that when there is turmoil in the world, it is "because of me," meaning, for the benefit of the Jewish people. As the Midrash says, "When you see nations antagonizing one another, look for the footsteps of Moshiach." 

We see from this story of teshuva, that even those who are not Jewish, are obligated to do teshuva, not as a mitzvah of its own, like our obligation, but as part of the Seven Mitzvahs of the Children of Noach. They have a mitzvah to negate false deities and only serve Hashem, teshuva is included in that mitzvah. And we see from this story, that we are obligated to have an affect on the nations of the world, the children of Noach, that they should follow in Hashem's ways, namely, the Laws of Noach. 

How did Yona become a prophet? The Talmud Yerushalmi says about Simchas Beis Hashoeiva, "Yona son of Amitai entered into Simchas Beis Hashoeiva and the Divine Inspiration rested upon him." That is why it is called Simchas Beis Hashoeiva (drawing),  "because Divine Inspiration is drawn from there."

Simchas Beis Hashoeiva happened on Sukkos nights in the Temple, in the area of the Women's Gallery. Water would be drawn from the Shiloach spring, and it would be offered on the Temple altar, as a libation. All night the righteous danced, while the other men and the women looked on. There was no greater joy, as our sages say, "Whoever hasn't seen Simchas Beis Hashoeiva, has not seen joy in his life."

There were certainly many great and holy people at the Simchas Beis Hashoeiva. Why does the Talmud Yerushalmi single out Yona, from all the other great people that were at the festivities?

It is because the whole idea of Simchas Beis Hashoeiva, is that we have the power to overcome any obstacle, through the power of joy. And as mentioned above, the story of Yona is about the descent of the neshama into the world, this is telling us that we have the power to overcome any obstacle, and accomplish our mission. Ultimately we will reach our destination.

Telling us about Yona's ability of prophecy, is particularly important, because his abilities continued after the festivities came to an end, and even outside the land of Israel. That means that the prophecy that was drawn at Simchas Beis Hashoeiva in the Temple, continues after the festivities. It continues on in every generation and in all places until the coming of Moshiach.

Yona is the one who teaches us the power of teshuva, even when it comes to other nations and even outside the land of Israel. As the Talmud tells us, that the people of Nineveh were so affected by Yona, they returned stolen objects, even the ones that they had a long time, and were handled in such a way, that they were not obligated to return them by law.

How much more so, we Jewish people, are affected by Yona, his story, his struggles and his love for the Jewish people. That we can repair any blemish in our relationship with Hashem, and through teshuva we attain a level of connection to Hashem, that is far stronger and higher than mitzvahs and Torah without teshuva.

So it is Yona that teaches us about the power of teshuva, and how far and high teshuva can take you. That is why it is called "Maftir Yona."

May Hashem accept our teshuva, and may our teshuva bring us to our desired destination, the ultimate redemption, when we will witness the greatest revelation of Hashem, greater than any prophecy. May it happen now.