This week, in preparation for Yom Kippur, we have been hearing the story of Yonah (Jonah) and the dag gadol (the big fish). This story of teshuvah (repentence), forgiveness, and mercy is read during the afternoon of Yom Kippur. Our kehillah wanted to share with you this story . . . in our own words!
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Once upon a time, there was a man named Yonah. “He was a good person,” explained Nathan. “He helped people,” added Shira. “And he was saving people!” exclaimed Zemer. “Yonah showed kavod to people. And peace!” declared Millie and Sabine.
Every morning, Yonah got on a camel and went to work. One morning, he heard God’s voice say “Yonah!” Aeden said, “Hashem asked Yonah to do something.” “To go to another country,” continued Sabine. “The country where people didn’t show kavod to the kids or anything!” explained Leo. “Yeah!” said Nathan. “They don’t help people and they fight.” But Yonah didn’t want to go to this land. He was too scared to go!
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So Yonah tried to run away. He went on a boat, but when they were sailing there was a big storm! Leo said, “Yonah wanted them to throw him in the water because the storm will stop then if he went in the water.” “Because Yonah didn’t listen to Hashem so there was a storm,” explained Adrian. “Hashem made the storm because Hashem wanted that Yonah will think again,” said Ilan. “Yonah should help the people in the kingdom to behave better.” And the minute the sailors tossed Yonah into the water, the storm stopped!
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Yonah swam and swam. He kept looking for dry land. Suddenly, a dag gadol (a big fish) came up and swallowed him! “Yonah had tried to trick God by trying to hide from him,” explained Bentzi. “Yonah started crying and got squished!” Asher declared. “Yonah said ‘Please take me out!’” Millie explained. “‘I promise I will listen to you, Hashem.’” With Jonah in his belly, the dag gadol felt sick and had a stomachache. Finally, he spit Yonah out! We all decided that the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was to take a shower. “Because he was so slimy,” Aeden explained. “And he was crying,” said Asher.
After he got home, Yonah decided that he actually needed to listen to God and go to the country where people aren’t doing good things. “Even though I don’t want to, it’s the right thing to do. I need to tell them to make good choices,” he thought.
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When Yonah got to the country, he met with the king and explained that the people weren’t acting kindly and that they needed to help each other. “They need to show hesed,” said Sabine. Millie agreed, “The people need to be peaceful!” “And show kavod!” added Zemer and Aeden.
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Ilana asked: “What we would do to help the people be kinder to each other, if we were Yonah?” “I would be nice to them, and then they would be nice to each other,” said Leo. “They could come to school and learn how to be nice to each other,” declared Nathan. “They should go to our school and learn to be nice. They would know by learning,” explained Shira.
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The king listened to Yonah and traveled around his country, trying to convince the people to be kind. And Yonah also went throughout the country, teaching people to listen to God “and told the people they should show kavod to everybody,” explained Bentzi.
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And over time, the people started showing kavod (respect), hesed (kindness), a’hava (love), and shalom (peace) to each other. “That makes us happy!” said Leo. “They learned that mistakes are good if they learn from them. Like us!” exclaimed Aeden and Adrian.