Because he WANTS the city to be destroyed. #ParshaChat

Because of the wars/feud with Nineveh; because of a history of bias on both sides; because he doesn’t want to have to see them as human ; because being nice to Nineveh “feels icky” …? #ParshaChat

And then it benefitted *them* immensely and left him, at best, no better off than before. #ParshaChat

A2 I've read a midrash that imagines the Pharaoh of the Exodus story didn't drown in the Reed Sea but survived, went to Nineveh, and became ruler there. Given a second chance to change his ways, this time, he actually repents! A good story for Yom Kippur! #ParshaChat

If so, why would Jonah object to that mission?
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That's a really interesting possibility — and it's something I really *could* see getting nipped in the bud with a very serious warning.

Some kinds of bad behavior really do go way down when it's clear that they won't be tolerated.
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That must have been so scary for him #ParshaChat

Exactly what I’m imagining, yes. But it’s a relatively recent change, and Yah wants to nip it in the bud, and not allow it to become entrenched and codified. #ParshaChat

A2: If it's more that Nineveh did something that mildly offended his sensibilities and Jonah was offended by them being given the chance to knock if off, that's obviously a lot less sympathetic.

And I think you could defensibly read Jonah either way.

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A2: If the thing Nineveh did involved something more like world-damaging terrorism, I can really sympathize with not wanting to get involved with provoking a whole song-and-dance of sackcloth and ashes and God's mercy erasing it.
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Good point. And it may be relevant that Nineveh had often been at war with Israel, and here is Jonah, an Israelite prophet, being sent to warn them to change their ways. Imagine a Ukrainian in Moscow! #ParshaChat

Yes — I think it's possible that he was already asleep before the storm started, but being able to sleep through that is probably not very normal. #ParshaChat

Lost the thread? Or … maybe he held it together long enough to do what was needed, and now he can’t hold it together anymore. #ParshaChat

A2: On the one hand, I'm thinking about the anniversaries of major acts of terrorism that damaged the world in big ways.

On the other hand, I'm thinking about the kind of guy with an outsized sense of self-importance who looses his mind when asked to care about other people.
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A2: This year, there are a couple broad trends that are raising possibilities about how to read this:
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Similar to Sodom, in that they violated the laws of hospitality and treated travelers badly in violent ways? #ParshaChat

and Jonah going to sleep, instead, DOES speak to suicidal depression, it is VERY much not the normal way to behave, or even to be able to behave
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Very important. And they weren’t Jewish or Hebrew themselves, and they still tried to protect Jonah #ParshaChat

But when he gripes at God for being so merciful, he has lost the thread completely. God's answer to him is caring: for Jonah, for the Ninevites, and for their animals. #ParshaChat

When he prays from the belly of the fish: moving in the right direction. When he picks himself up from the sand and goes to Nineveh, he's doing his job as a prophet, and very effectively, it seems! 2/3 #ParshaChat