Rabbi Shares Message of Courage on Yom Kippur

We welcome a guest column from Rabbi Stacy Bergman of Temple Shaaray Tefila who has shared a message for Yom Kippur with Patch readers. If you are interested in posting on Patch, click here. 

9 years ago when my son Jonah was born I was besieged with gifts.
Family, friends and acquaintances alike generously sent gifts to celebrate his birth and that of his twin brother Nathaniel.

While Nathaniel received the traditional boys gifts…cars, trucks and balls…
Jonah received whales… whale Pajamas, whale stuffed animals, whale T-shirts, blankets and burp clothes because everyone associates Jonah with the whale.
Even in rabbinic circles we refer to Jonah as a whale of a tale.

Now, on Yom Kippur afternoon, the book of Jonah serves as our Haftarah reading.

In actuality the part about Jonah being swallowed by a whale
is a small detail of the story. Jonah, the prophet of Yom Kippur, is called upon by God. His mission is to go to the great city of Nineveh where the people are wicked and immoral and to teach them the ways of God—to help them learn compassion and caring, goodness and faith.

But Jonah refuses, and runs away instead.

He boards a boat and flees in the other direction whereupon God casts a terrible storm and the mariners who are with Jonah fear him and his sin.
They cast him overboard and he is swallowed by Dag Gadol—a Big Fish—a whale.

At this point Jonah understands his impeding fate—he realizes that the moment of his death is upon him. And in that moment he understands his life and he finds his faith. He prays to God with all his heart and vows to change,
to live his life differently. And through his prayer, his death is averted. Jonah teaches us that how we live, matters—that any day can be Yom Kippur—judgement day.

For there may be no tomorrow.

Every year on Yom Kippur afternoon, we remember Jonah—who, in his darkest hour, in his moment of impending death showed courage and understanding and a willingness to change.

The same can be true for you and I.

And so on this Yom Kippur, may we live our lives with faith and courage, with compassion and truth and may our lives be a blessing to ourselves and those around us. Amen.

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