Our story comes from Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 550, a compilation of rabbinic teachings and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. It fleshes out the familiar tale of Yonah in surprising detail.
It all begins on a Tuesday – that’s what R’ Eliezer tells us, noting that many significant events happened on the fifth day of the week: the waters of Egypt turned to blood, the Exodus, the parting of the Jordan River for the Ark, and Hezekiah’s blocking of the springs. Tuesday seems to be a day for divine action!
Now, why did Yonah run in the first place? He wasn’t just being stubborn. The Zohar tells us that the first time God sent him to the cities of Israel, they repented and were spared, making him a successful prophet. But the second time he was sent against Jerusalem, and they repented again! God, in His mercy, spared them, but now Yonah looked like a false prophet.
So, when God tells him to go to Nineveh, a great and wicked city, Yonah panics. As our text says, he thinks, "I know that the nations are easily moved to repentance and my anger will be disposed of on Israel. It is not enough that Israel calls me a false prophet, should even the nations call me so?!" He decides to flee to Tarshish, a place beyond God's direct influence, or so he believes.
The Yalkut Shimoni uses a vivid parable here: it's like a king whose nursing wife dies. He seeks a wet nurse for his son, but she abandons the child. The king imprisons her in a pit of snakes and scorpions until his mercy is awakened and he brings her back. So too, Yonah.
Yonah goes down to Yaffo (Joppa) to find a ship, but none are available. God sends a storm to bring one back! Seeing this, Yonah thinks his path is clear. He pays his fare in advance, a sign of his great joy and confidence.
But the sea had other plans. A massive storm hits, threatening to sink the ship. Representatives of all seventy nations are aboard, each praying to their own gods, but to no avail. Yonah, meanwhile, is asleep below deck! The captain wakes him, saying, "We're hanging between life and death and you are sleeping! From what people are you?" Yonah confesses he's a Hebrew and that the trouble is his fault. "Lift me up and toss me into the sea," he says.
R’ Shimon tells us they didn't immediately throw him overboard. They cast lots, and the lot fell on Yonah. They tried everything else first, throwing cargo overboard, trying to turn back, but nothing worked. Finally, they lowered him into the water. As they lowered him incrementally, the sea calmed each time, only to rage again when they brought him back. Until finally, he was gone.
And then comes the famous fish. R’ Meir says this fish was appointed from the six days of creation specifically to swallow Yonah. Imagine this: he enters the fish's mouth "like a man who entered a great synagogue," with the fish's eyes like windows! R’ Meir continues, there was even a pearl inside that lit up the fish's belly like the sun.
But the story doesn't end there. The fish tells Yonah it's destined to be eaten by Leviathan, the great sea monster. Yonah offers to save them both. He confronts Leviathan, flashing the seal of Avraham Avinu (Abraham, our father) – circumcision! Leviathan, terrified, flees.
After saving the fish, Yonah gets a guided tour of the ocean depths. He sees the river of the ocean, the paths of the Red Sea, the sources of the waves, the pillars of the earth, the depths of Sheol (the underworld), even Gehinnom (hell) and the palace of the Lord in Jerusalem. Quite the field trip!
But after three days and nights, God notices Yonah isn't praying. So, He sends a pregnant fish – carrying hundreds of thousands of baby fish – to make Yonah more… uncomfortable. The new fish threatens to swallow the first fish with Yonah inside! They consult Leviathan who confirms the threat. The first fish spits Yonah out, and the pregnant fish swallows him.
Now in great distress, Yonah finally prays. "Master of the World! Where can I go to escape Your spirit?" He acknowledges God's omnipresence and pleads for salvation.
He is only answered when he vows to fulfill his destiny and bring down Leviathan, making a feast of it for the righteous in the future.
God commands the fish to vomit Yonah onto dry land, nine hundred and sixty-eight parsa (an ancient unit of distance) away! The sailors, witnessing these miracles, convert to Judaism, undergoing circumcision and vowing themselves and their families to God.
So, what does this all mean? It's more than just a fantastical tale of a prophet and a fish. It's about the inescapable nature of our purpose. Yonah tried to run, but God used every means necessary – storms, fish, even Leviathan – to bring him back to his calling. It reminds us that sometimes, the very things we fear or try to avoid are precisely what we need to confront to fulfill our own destinies. Are we brave enough to face our own "Nineveh?"
It was taught that R’ Eliezer says: the waters of Egypt were turned to blood on the fifth day of the week. On that very day our ancestors left Egypt, on that very day the waters of the Jordan stood still before the ark of the Lord, on that very day Hezekiah blocked up all of the springs. Yonah fled before God on the fifth day of the week. And why did he flee? Because the first time God sent him to bring the cities of Israel to repentance and his words succeeded, as it says ‘he restored the cities of Israel.’ (see Kings II 14:25) The second time Gd sent him against Jerusalem to destroy it. Since they repented, the Holy One acted out of the abundance of His mercy, regretted the evil, and did not destroy it. Then they called him a false prophet. The third time God sent him against Nineveh to destroy it. Yonah took counsel with himself and said: I know that the nations are easily moved to repentance and my anger will be disposed of on Israel. It is not enough that Israel calls me a false prophet, should even the nations call me so?! I will flee to a place where His glory is not found. This is like a king of flesh and blood whose wife died while she was nursing and he sought a wet nurse to nurse his son. What did he do? He called to his wet nurse to nurse his son that he not die of hunger. What did the king’s wet nurse do? She left his son and fled. When the king saw that this was so he sent out a message to seize her and detain her in prison and to lower her down into a place with snakes and scorpions. After a few days the king stood at the lip of the pit and she was weeping and crying out to him. The mercy of the king was awakened for her and he gave order that she be lifted out and returned before him. So too Yonah. Since he fled from the Holy One, He locked him up in the belly of the fish until he cried out before the Holy One and He brought him forth. He went down to Yaffo and found no ship on which to flee, because the ship was already two days out from Yaffo. What did the Holy One do? He brought a storm wind upon it and returned it to Yaffo. Yonah saw this and rejoiced greatly, saying: now I know that my path is smooth before me. He said to them: I will go with you. They said to him: we are going to the far islands of Tarshish. He replied: nonetheless! Out of Yonah’s great joy he paid them in advance, as it says “…paid its hire, and went down into it…” (Jonah 1:3) They set out to sea and a storm wind came against them from their left and their right. All the other boats were passing to and fro in peace and quiet while their ship was in great distress and looked as if it would founder. R’ Chanina says: there were representatives of all seventy languages on that boat, each one had his god in his hand and was prostrating himself. They said: everyone call out to their god and the one who answers and saves is the true god. They called out and it did no good. In his distress and exhaustion, Yonah fell asleep. The captain of the ship came to him and said: we are hanging between life and death and you are sleeping! From what people are you? He replied: I am a Hebrew. He said to him: we have heard that your god is great. Get up and call to your god, maybe he will do for us like all the wonders that he did at the sea. He said to them: this distress is because of me. Lift me up and toss me into the sea. R’ Shimon said: they did not resolve to throw him into the sea until they drew lots and the lot fell out on Yonah. What did they do? They took all of the baggage from the ship and threw it into the sea in order to lighten their load, but it did not help. They wanted to return to land, but they were not able. They took Yonah and stood him on the edge of the ship, saying: Master of the World! Do not place upon us innocent blood, because we do not know what this man has done. They lowered his legs into the water and the sea calmed, they lifted him up and it raged again. They lowered him in to his belly and the sea calmed, they drew him back up to them and it raged again. They lowered him in to his neck and so on until they lowered him all the way, as it says “And they picked Jonah up and cast him into the sea…” (Jonah 1:15) R’ Meir says: the fish was appointed to swallow Yonah from the six days of creation, as it says “And the Lord appointed a huge fish…” (Jonah 2:1) He entered its mouth like a man who entered a great synagogue and his two eyes were like windows. He said – lanterns are giving light for Yonah. R’ Meir says: there was a pearl hanging in the belly of the fish which gave light for Yonah like the sun at its strength in the midday and Yonah saw all that was in the seas and in the depths. The fish said to Yonah: don’t you know that my day to be eaten by leviathan has arrived? He said to him: bring me to him and I will save both you and me from his mouth. The fish brought him to leviathan and he said: for you I descended, to see your dwelling place in the sea. Furthermore, in the future I will come down and put a rope around your head in order to make a feast out of you for the righteous. Yonah showed him the seal of our father Avraham (circumcision). Leviathan saw it and fled before him a distance of two days. Then Yonah said to the fish: I saved you from leviathan, now show me everything which is in the seas and the depth. It showed him the great river of the waters of the ocean as it says, “…and a river surrounded me…” (Jonah 2:4) It showed him the paths of the Red Sea through which Israel passed as it says, “…the weeds were wrapped about my head.” (Jonah 2:6) It showed him the place from which the waves of the sea come forth as it says, “…all Your breakers and waves passed over me.” (Jonah 2:4) It showed him the pillars of the earth on its base as it says, “…the earth with her bars closed on me forever…” (Jonah 2:7) It showed him the lowest part of the netherworld as it says, “…out of the belly of She’ol I cried…” (Jonah 2:3) It showed him Gehinnom as it says, “…yet you have brought up my life from the pit…” (Jonah 2:7) It showed him the palace of the Lord as it says, “I went down to the bottom of the mountains…” (Jonah 2:7) From here we learn that Jerusalem stands on seven mountains. And he saw there the foundation stone fixed in the deeps, and he saw there also the sons of Korach standing and praying for it. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish without praying. The Holy One said: I made a broad space for him in the belly of a male fish in order that he not be distressed and he isn’t praying! I will prepare a fish that is pregnant with three hundred and sixty five thousands and tens of thousands of little fish in order that he be distressed and pray before me. This is because the Holy One desires the prayers of the righteous. In that hour the Holy One brought a pregnant fish and she said to the other fish: the Holy One sent me to swallow up the prophet who is in your belly. If you will spit him out, good. If not I will swallow you with him. He said to her: who knows if what you say is true? She replied: leviathan. They went to leviathan and she said to him: leviathan, king over all the fish of the sea! Do you not know that the Holy One sent me to this fish to swallow the prophet who is in his belly? He said to her: yes. The fish said to leviathan: when? He replied: in the last three hours, when the Holy One descends to play with me. Thus I heard. He immediately spit out Yonah. The female fish right away swallowed him and he was in great distress because of the confinement and the filth. He immediately focused his heart in prayer, as it says “And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God, from the belly of the fish.” (Jonah 2:2) He said: Master of the World! Where can I go to escape Your spirit and to where can I flee from before You? “If I ascend to the heavens, there You are…” (Psalms 139:8) You are King over all kingdoms and Master over all rulers of the world. The high heavens are Your throne and the earth is Your footstool. Your kingdom is on high and Your dominion in the deeps, the actions of all humanity are revealed before You and the secrets of all men spread out before You. You search out the ways of all people and examine the footsteps of all living things. You know the hidden things of the kidneys and the secrets of the heart You understand. All which is hidden is revealed before You, there are no secrets before the throne of your glory and nothing shielded from Your eyes. You collect every secret and tell every single thing. You are there in every place, Your eyes see evil and good. I beseech You, answer me from the belly of Sheol and save me from the depths. Let my cry come into Your ears and fulfill my request because You sit far away and hear as if near. You are called the One who lifts up and casts down, please lift me up! You are called the One who kills and gives life, I have reached the point of death – revive me! He was not answered until he said this: that which I vowed to bring up leviathan and prepare him before them, I will fulfill on the day of Israel’s salvation. “But I-with a voice of thanks will I sacrifice to You…” (Jonah 2:10) Immediately the Holy One gestured to the fish and she vomited Yonah nine hundred and sixty eight parsa to dry land. The sailors saw all the signs and wonders which the Holy One did with Yonah and everyone threw away his god, as it says “Those who keep worthless futilities…” (Jonah 2:9) They returned to Yaffo, went up to Jerusalem and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins, as it says “And the men feared the Lord exceedingly…” (Jonah 1:16) And did they make sacrifices?! Rather they performed circumcision which is like the blood of sacrifice. Each man vowed his wife, children and all he had to the Gd of Yonah, and fulfilled his vow. Of them it says ‘and on the righteous converts.’
