Yom Kippur: Leaving the Belly of the Whale

Rabbi Ariel Platt 

Yom Kippur, “The Day of Atonement,” begins at sundown on Sunday and ends at sundown Monday, September 21st. It is a day to pause, reflect on the year behind us, make amends, forgive, and consider how we want to move forward. Traditions like fasting, wearing white, and refraining from wearing leather help us connect with the gravity of the day.

One of the stories we read on Yom Kippur is the story of Jonah. Jonah is a prophet who is told by God to go to the city of Nineveh and call on its people to change their ways. But Jonah is afraid of what he is being asked to do, and what he will become if he embraces this responsibility. So instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah runs in the opposite direction, toward a place called Tarshish. Along the way, a storm overtakes his ship, and Jonah is thrown overboard, eventually finding himself in the belly of a great whale.

Jonah thought he could run away. But he couldn’t run away from himself.

Rabbi Sidney Greenberg captures the heart of Jonah’s story beautifully:

“Wherever we go we take ourselves along. God finds Jonah even in the belly of the whale. The only way to ‘get away’ from ourselves is to effect a change within ourselves. What we need is not a change of scene, but a change of soul.”

There is something powerful about returning to this story every Yom Kippur. Fear keeps us in the proverbial belly of the whale. Fear can make us run from difficult truths, resist change, or convince us that if we simply change our circumstances, we can escape what is uncomfortable within ourselves. But wherever we go, we take ourselves along.

Yom Kippur reminds us that we don’t have to stay there. We can choose to face what scares us, make a different choice, and begin again.

Each time we experience a change or transition in our lives, it is like a new creation of ourselves begins. We have the opportunity to decide what we want to carry with us, what we are ready to leave behind, and who we want to become.

May this Yom Kippur give us the courage to face our fears, step out of the belly of the whale, and embrace the possibility of becoming something new.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah! May we all be inscribed for good in the Book of Life!