25 Sep IS YONAH REALLY ABOUT TESHUVAH?

I. Teshuvah and
Nineveh
C o n v e n t i o n a l
wisdom has it
that the book of
Yonah is about the
power of teshuvah,
repentance. But if that is the case,
why is teshuvah barely mentioned? Of
the book’s four chapters, the first two
discuss Yonah’s attempt to avoid his
mission. In the third chapter, seven of the
two verses discuss Nineveh’s teshuvah.
Then the final chapter is about Yonah’s
reaction. Of the book’s 48 verses, seven
address teshuvah. Maybe the book has a
different theme.
Additionally, and this is somewhat
surprising, the Minchas Chinuch
(364:34) quotes an opinion that teshuvah
does not work for gentiles. What
about Nineveh’s teshuvah? He says
he discusses it in his Shabbos Shuvah
derashah, which to my knowledge was
never published. Even if only a minority
opinion, how can we understand the
idea that teshuvah works only for Jews?

Rav Menachem Azariah (Rama) of
Fano (17th cen., Italy) adopts the view
that gentiles cannot do teshuvah (Asarah
Ma’amaros, Chikur Ha-Din 2:11). He
explains that teshuvah is a mitzvah and
therefore only applies to Jews who are
obligated in the commandments. He
continues that the people of Nineveh
merited salvation for any of three
reasons:
1) There were many innocent people
and animals in the city who would have
suffered if the guilty were punished.
2) The sinners of Nineveh returned
what they stole, thereby undoing the sin
to some degree.
3) Their repentance did not clear
their sins but merely delayed their
punishment.
Rav Moshe of Trani (Mabit; 16th cen.,
Israel) likewise adopts the view that
teshuvah is specifically part of G-d’s
covenant with the Jewish people (Beis
Elokim 2:13). He explains that even
after Nineveh’s teshuvah, it was not
guaranteed that they would be free from

punishment for their sins.
That is why the people
of Nineveh said: “Who
knows if G-d will turn and
relent, and turn away from
His fierce anger, so that we
may not perish?” (Jonah
3:9). The divine response
to Jewish repentance is
clear and delineated. In
contrast, there can be many
divine responses to gentile
repentance, only one of
which is complete forgiveness.
II. How Does Teshuvah Work?
This last point helps us better understand
the nature of teshuvah. There is a debate
whether teshuvah represents G-d’s
mercy or judgment. Is it a function
of chesed or emes? The Rambam
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Teshuvah 2:4)
says that among the ways of teshuvah
is you change your name (or nickname)
as if to say, “I am someone else, not the
person who did those actions.” To the
Rambam, part of the teshuvah process
is changing yourself so that your new
personality is disassociated from the
sins. You have grown and no longer
deserve punishment for past actions.
In this accounting, teshuvah is emes,
justice.

In contrast, Rav Yosef Albo (Sefer Ha-
Ikkarim 4:25) argues that teshuvah has

no place in justice. You committed the
sins and deserve punishment for them.
It is only through divine kindness,
chesed, that we can erase our past
misdeeds (see also Sha’arei Teshuvah
1:1, 2:2). The prophet Hoshea
describes it as “erpa meshuvasam,
I will heal their repentance” (14:5).
Teshuvah consists of divine healing of
our past that otherwise would require
punishment.
If teshuvah is part of divine justice,
then that justice should apply equally
to all people. G-d is just and righteous.
He would not deny gentiles their fair
opportunity to repent. However, if
teshuvah is due to divine chesed, then
G-d can apply that kindness unequally.
Perhaps that chesed is part of the
unique divine relationship with the
Jewish people. (The Mabit and Rama
Mi-Fano also take the approach that
teshuvah is chesed. See Beis Elokim
2:1; Asarah Ma’amaros, ibid. 1:12,14.)

Put into practical terms, if teshuvah is
emes, then true teshuvah will always
erase past sins. On the other hand,
if teshuvah is chesed, then G-d may
respond differently to it. For Jews, with
whom there is a covenant that includes
teshuvah, G-d will erase past sins. For
others, teshuvah will be treated as an
attempt to reach out to G-d, which can
achieve different kinds of responses.
For us, teshuvah guarantees atonement.
For others, teshuvah might achieve
atonement for past sins, great reward
for the action itself or something in
between.
III. Yonah on Yom Kippur
If the book of Yonah is not about
Nineveh’s teshuvah, then why do we
read it on Yom Kippur? Perhaps we
read it because of Yonah’s teshuvah.
He began by running away from his
prophetic mission but eventually
fulfilled it. Or maybe we read Yonah
because it is a story of a man learning
that he cannot escape his divine mission,
the commandments of G-d, despite his
attempts to flee and undermine it. (See

Mishnah Berurah 622:8 and Sha’ar Ha-
Tziyun 6.) We read Yonah right after

we read from the Torah the passage of
forbidden relationships (Lev. 18). Even
if two people on that list love each other,
they must abandon that desire to marry.
Love and desire cannot conquer all
because we were created with a mission
in this world.
Whether teshuvah is about emes or
chesed, whether it erases past sins or
otherwise achieves divine favor, our
path forward is clear. Regardless of our
past, we must change now in the present
and the future, we must stop attempting
to flee our own paths. Our job in this
world is to follow our divine mission,
no matter how difficult we may find it.