"Struggling" #ParshaChat

This is the first time in the prayer where he longs for something outside himself #ParshaChat

We've reached the end of the scheduled #ParshaChat, but please feel free to continue the conversation!

I want to thank everyone who's making me consider for the first time whether Jonah was struggle with a mental health condition. I'm feeing more compassion for him, and a little perplexed at the "tough love" God uses to teach him different. #ParshaChat

I have a comic posted on my fridge about that #ParshaChat

General #ParshaChat question: We're approaching the time of year when we restart the Torah reading cycle, and choose a new theme to focus on for the year! Does anyone have a theme they're particularly interested in?

How so? #ParshaChat

Right? And that gets so complicated because, since kids lack perspective, *anything* that upsets them is likely to feel unfair in the moment.

But also, real unfairness exists and is common and sometimes they are right.
#ParshaChat

Those last two lines are where it pivots #ParshaChat

I'm hearing Jonah in a child!s voice: "Why do THEY always get away with everything? It's not fair!" #ParshaChat

This reminds me of when I was little, and one of my younger siblings kept hurting people. I was told that because I was older, it was my responsibility to solve the problem. I tried, but it ended up with me being punished. #ParshaChat

I could see that, too. And *especially* the combination of close proximity *and* watching them be forgiven for whatever it was. #ParshaChat

"And also, much cattle." #ParshaChat

A3: It's interesting to me how much Jonah's perspective seems to shift here — he's able to conceive of wanting to live through this in some way.

And also, that doesn't mean he's cured or that he feels ok from now on!
#ParshaChat

Speaking of Nineveh being a traditional enemy, I think it’s interesting that we read a story about, in part, Ninevites fasting and repenting on a day when Jews are fasting and repenting. #ParshaChat

A3 On the one hand, Jonah thanks God for rescuing him before it even happens (in this story: some scholars say the poem was written elsewhere and stuck in here). On the other, it's very transactional, very "this for that." #ParshaChat

(And of course, God *had* done that in the past!) #ParshaChat

And then God says, essentially: But do you think I could have stood destroying an entire city full of people with so many people who hadn't actually done anything wrong? #ParshaChat

Maybe it’s my fatigue, but I’m not noticing much. It does seem like the location keeps changing? #ParshaChat

"I know you're just going to be merciful and let them off the hook, so why should I put myself in that position for nothing?" is a sentiment that makes sense to me, in that context. #ParshaChat