After all, the "hero" of the book is a whiny prophet who disapproves of the fact that God is forgiving of those who truly repent. It's hard to hear that as an "inspirational" message as the day is growing long and the gates are closing...
Temple Judea has had the pleasure of having Scott Fried with us as we prepare for the High Holy Days. In a recent talk on bullying - he made a very important point. Often, the person who is the "perpetrator" of bullying is doing it because they see something in their target that they dislike in themselves.
This idea has given me new compassion for Jonah - after all, it isn't easy to forgive others who have wronged us. Perhaps Jonah was mad at God, because he wished that he could forgive in the same way that God could.
The gift is that we can all be God-like by doing the hard task of letting go of hurts and pains, whether they were caused intentionally or not. May we all let go - and not carry those pains in to a new year!
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