Sefer Yonah - Everyman's Teshuva

Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein analyzes the “pshat“ storyline of Sefer Yona and brings midrashic sources, too, to tease out the big ideas about teshuva that come to the fore in this short book. What is the nature of teshuva? What is teshuva all about? What is considered legitimate teshuva and what is not? A pattern of teshuva of some sort, Divine salvation, and a dialogue between God and Yona ensues. Yona may yearn for strict judgment, but God takes account of human fallibility and tempers justice with mercy. On Yom Kippur afternoon, we plead for God to have mercy regardless of whether our teshuva is human and flawed, or objectively ideal.