Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"We read Jonah during the service because we are Jonah at this point in the day. We have been functioning in the realm of belief that our prayers will lead to certain outcomes; that is, after all, the purpose of Yom Kippur. And yet, deep within us, in the desire to return home to sleep in our beds, there is the doubt, the anger, the knowledge that we can never understand how this world works, and what is the point in trying? We read Jonah to be reminded that this tumultuous, contradictory, difficult space is, in fact, the space of prayer and possibility." -- Maya Bernstein, "Jonah and Yom Kippur"

[To my Jewish friends who are observing Yom Kippur tonight and tomorrow, g'mar chatima tova. And to those healthy enough to fast safely, may you have a meaningful fast.]