Connecticut Jewish Ledger

As the sun begins to set on Yom Kippur day, hungry congregants know that one “fishy” Bible story stands between them and their bagels.

The biblical Book of Jonah, read during Mincha, the afternoon service of Yom Kippur, is so well-known that a Google search of the words “Book of Jonah” delivers 5,410,000 “hits.”

Yet, the Book of Jonah is much more than a story of a large fish and a man running from God, says T.A. Perry, comparative literature professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and a resident of New Haven, who offers new insights on this classic story in a new book.

In “The Honeymoon Is Over: Jonah’s Argument with God” (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Mass.), Perry offers a thoughtful interpretation of the Book of Jonah, which he views as a “love story of rejection and reconciliation.” Perry attempts to show how Jonah is cast out of the Divine Presence, and how Jonah ultimately works his way back. Perry, who holds a PhD in romance philology and comparative literature from Yale University and haws done post-doctoral work in Judaic Studies and Hebrew Bible at Brandeis University and Hebrew University, encourages readers to read and re-read this well-known story and to go beyond preconceived ideas about Jonah, God, and the people of Nineveh.

“My approach is not theological,” reports Perry.

Still, in this book he does deal in depth with such religious questions as suicide and assisted suicide, survival, the moral capacity of animals and the belief that God can change his mind and be educated. Perry has also written a book on the biblical book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) and one on the Book of Proverbs.
“These biblical books are good stories-to be read as literature,” he explained. “The fact that the rabbis or God decided to put them down and pass them down means that literature is our real way to access these thoughts. The Torah speaks the language of human beings and with literary structures of human beings.”

While Perry is attuned to language and encourages readers to closely read the text without the “bias” of commentators, he clearly has a keen grasp of the commentators and of history. In “The Honeymoon is Over,” Perry shows the various ways Jonah has been understood historically, from prefiguring Christ according to varied Christian thought, to being one of the great figures of Jewish mysticism according to rabbinic thought.

“For psychiatrists,” notes Perry, “Jonah is depressed, someone you put on the couch. Others see Jonah as a renegade, because he doesn’t like to prophesize.” Perry points out that Jonah is not the first prophet who doesn’t want to serve God.

“Jonah doesn’t want to do it,” Perry said, “but, unlike Moses or Isaiah, his refusal is original.”

Perry tries to make sense of Jonah’s refusal to serve God. “Jonah, a prophet of God, wanted people to be saved, and he knew that God is a God of mercy-and he was enjoying the Divine Presence in Jerusalem, when God tells him he is destroying them! Jonah doesn’t recognize this aspect of God,” Perry explained. “Jonah is so flustered, he doesn’t know what to do because his traditional concept of God is overturned.”

“Jonah’s sin,” observes Perry, “is that he didn’t trust in the nature of God.”

Perry has participated in weekly Bible study for many years with the New Haven Shabbat Study Group, and he thanks each group member in his dedication page.

“The group is made up of scholars from all walks of life-each with a different approach. Tony has his own literary, thoughtful approach and has contributed a lot over these many years,” said Donna Dalnekoff, who has participated in the Shabbat group with Perry for nearly 30 years.

Another group member, Jay Sokolow, reports, “What strikes me about Tony is that, when he studies Tanach, he has the eye of a romantic poet. His background in French Romantic poetry flavors his take on Tanach and that is unique. He pays attention to the language and keeps his eyes open for literary tricks.”

Perry’s book comes out just in time for Yom Kippur.

“Jonah went out and preached teshuva (repentance) and in three days, even the animals did teshuvah,” notes Perry. “Jonah shows us that teshuva is available to all.”