The Bet HaLevi tells a Gemarah in Masechet Berachot:
כֲאפִילּוּ חֶרֶב חַדָּה מוּנַּחַת עַל צַוָּארוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, אַל יִמְנַע עַצְמוֹ מִן הָרַחֲמִים.
Even if a sharp knife is on your throat, one should never hold himself back from asking Hashem for mercy.
Even if things seem beyond beyond hope, there is always still hope.
He quotes a pasuk to back this up/
ה׳ ממית ומחיי
G-d causes death and life, And G-d is also
מוריד שאול ויעל
He puts people down in the depths and brings them out.
This might refer to tehiyat hametim, but the way Bet HaLevi explains it,
even if a person is literally in the depths of the deepest of waters, G-d will bring him out. And he says to remember the story of a Yonah.
As we know, Yonah was a prophet who was given a mission to go to Nineveh and tell the people to return in Teshuva. Yonah was afraid that it would be a prosecution against the Jewish people, if the people of Nineveh repented and the Jewish people hadn’t.
So, he decided to renege on G-d’s mission and run away from G-d. He got on a boat, left Israel and hoped he would not prophesize.
We know the story- G-d brought a strong wind and storm, the boat was in danger of capsizing, and they threw Yonah overboard, into the sea. He was actually sleeping when the storm started. The captain banged on his door and said,” Why are you sleeping now? It’s not a time to sleep! Get up and call out to your G-d!!” Eventually, he told them it was his fault, they threw him overboard, and a whale swallowed him. Ultimately, after this difficult ordeal, the whale spit him out onto the shore of Nineveh, and he went on to do his mission.
We’ll pause the story here.
We read this story on Yom Kippur, so obviously there’s an important lesson for us.
People buy the rights to get Maftir Yonah because it’s a segula for parnasa.
Why? What’s the lesson? Why do we read it on Yom Kippur?
Today is not Yom Kippur, but in the moment you’ll see where this is going.
One of the lessons of Yonah is that there was an announcement that in 40 days Nineveh would be overturned. (there are 40 days from Rosh Hodesh Elul to Yom Kippur) It was said that in 40 days they would be overturned, but they weren’t. How could that be? Was it a false prophecy?
The rabbis say that the word “overturned” can mean two things. It can be an “overturned” like Sedom was overturned, or it can mean turning over a new leaf, to a new lease on life. It can mean change.
The people of Nineveh changed. They did Teshuva and they were saved.
That’s an important lesson. Sometimes G-d brings a warning, or a fear. It can be devastating, but we can turn over a new leaf, and develop a new understanding of the seemingly negative prophecy. That’s a pertinent lesson for us today, as well as for Yom Kippur.
The second lesson of Yonah, which the Chafetz Chaim brings down in Mishnah Berurah, is that Yonah was running away from G-d, but G-d eventually got what He wanted. The Chafetz Chaim says that everyone has a mission in life. G-d will get there by hook or by crook, so you might as well go willingly.
G-d wants things from us. Sometimes Hashem has to use all all kinds of outside forces to get us where He wants us to be.
Let’s get there willingly, and not run away from our mission. That’s a lesson for Yom Kippur, but also for any time that things are topsy-turvy.
Another lesson was, as the captain told Yonah, ask for as we say in our Selichot, it’s not a time to go to sleep. We must wake up. These are serious times; we have to do something.
Another lesson is that Yonah said the storm was there because of him, which means any time there is some craziness going on, don’t blame everybody else in the world. Take responsibility. Own the problem.
The final lesson that I want to bring out, which was a Chiddush for me, is that the Bet HaLevi sees this as a lesson in Bitachon.
Remember the story of Yonah HaNavi. He was at the bottom, he was beyond. But G-d brought him up from the bottom of the depths.
Regardless of where you are whether you’re spiritually down or physically down, G-d can lift you up from the depths. That’s a Bitachon lesson, and maybe that’s why it’s a segulah for parnasah. Regardless of where you are, G-d can pick you up.
We need to know this lesson. When it looks like we’re all the way at the bottom, G-d is, in the words of Chana, מוריד שאול ויעל
When you’re down, He can bring you right back up.
Be’Ezrat Hashem we should take these lessons, when many events today parallel Yonah. We can walk away with this bitachon lesson:
G-d can bring someone down and equally bring him up.
Don’t forget the story of Yonah. It’s not just for Yom Kippur, it’s for any day of the year.
Have a wonderful day.