Комментарий о цитате к Йона 4:2

Evidence to the Abarbanel and Malbim may be gleaned from Yonah 4:2 where Yonah states that Hashem is “Chanun VeRachum Erech Apayim VeRav Chesed,” “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in kindness.” While we are quite familiar with these words taken from the thirteen attributes of mercy, a recurring theme of the Tefilot (prayers) of the Yamim Noraim (High Holy Days), a careful examination reveals that Yonah deviates from the text that appears in the Torah. Whereas the Torah states that Hashem is “Rav Chesed VeEmet,” “abundant in kindness and truth” (Shemot 34:6), Yonah states that Hashem is “Rav Chesed,” “abundant in kindness.”

ועתה ברח לך אל מקומך, “and now, flee to your place!” According to the father of R. David Kimchi this is not a flight in the conventional sense of the word but means the same as “go quickly!” The word is used in a similar meaning in Isaiah 48,20: ברחו מכשדים, “flee from Chaldea! Declare with loud shouting, Announce this, bring out the word to the end of the earth!” It may describe that Israel departed from Egypt with great fanfare. When the prophet Jonah is described as לברוח תרשישה, “hiring a ship to escape to Tarshish” (Jonah 1,3) this must not be taken to mean that he imagined he could escape from the Lord; it means that he meant to travel to Tarshish quickly. This is also the meaning of the words מלפני ה' that we find there which means “away from the presence of the Lord” and not מפני ה', “on account of the Lord,” as we find in Psalms 139,7 where David makes plain that it is impossible to flee from G’d using the words: “Where can I escape from Your spirit (presence)?”
The reason that Bileam was anxious to leave was to forestall G’d giving him a sign such as He did to the people of Nineveh (in later years) which would prompt them to do repentance, resulting eventually and indirectly in the destruction of the Northern kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Jonah himself told G’d that the reason that he was in such a rush to embark for Tarshish was to forestall that demise of the Jewish kingdom, not to escape from the Lord (Jonah 4,2). The “sign” to the people of Nineveh which prompted them to take Jonah’s prediction of their doom seriously and to repent their evil ways was undoubtedly that they had heard what had happened on the boat to Tarshish, how Jonah despite being thrown overboard had miraculously remained alive, etc., etc. This is a beautiful explanation although it clashes with that of our sages at the beginning of Mechilta 21 who do understand Jonah’s flight to Tarshish as an attempt to escape G’d in order not to be burdened with Holy Spirit, something he thought is not imposed when away from the Holy Land.

When you pray, do not make your prayer fixed, rather prayers for mercy and supplication before the Omnipresent, blessed be He: That he say the prayer like a poor man, supplicating and asking for something that he needs - as 'a pauper will speak supplications.' And [he should] not be like a man who requests something but does not need it - as he will not supplicate with a full heart, nor with a broken spirit. And every man needs to request about himself, 'as there is no man in the world who will not sin.' And the prayer should also not be like a burden, and he should not do it like one who repays his debt - as it is stated (the editor said that according to the text of our mishnah, he [cites] the verse from Joel 2:13) (Jonah 4:2), "You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing the bad" - as every man needs mercy. And if times [are fortuitous] for him because God, may He be blessed, is slow to anger and forgiving towards him; it is not because of his righteous deeds that God is merciful towards him. And [so,] he needs to supplicate Him lest God renounce his renouncing of the bad - 'lest [that] be caused by sin.' 'And not each and every hour does a miracle occur.'