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Yom Kippur: Yonah, Prophecy, Teshuvah, and the Fear of Greatness

Note: This summary was generated by AI based on the transcript of the shiur. It was not written or reviewed by Rabbi Gershenfeld.

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Published: September 20, 2026

? Did You Know...

...that the word tirosh (wine) contains tirash (poverty), and this duality is the key to understanding Kiddush? (source)
...that Shabbos candles are not merely about light, but about establishing seder — an ordered, purposeful framework for Shabbos?
...that the phrase Av Hamon Goyim — "father of a multitude of nations" — encodes a transformation in Avraham's very identity?
...that true leadership begins with recognizing that Hashem is the Elokei HaRuchos — the G-d of all spirits?
...that Kiddush Hashem is not only about martyrdom but about how we live every ordinary moment?

📖 This Week's Parsha

Parashat Bereshit

29 Tishrei 5787 · October 10, 2026 · Genesis 1:1-6:8

Bereshit opens with the creation of the world in six days and Shabbos. Adam and Chava are placed in Gan Eden, eat from the forbidden tree, and are exiled. Kayin kills Hevel; the generations from Adam to Noach are listed.

Haftarah (Ashkenaz): I Samuel 20:18-42 | Shabbat Machar Chodesh

Read on Sefaria →

🗓 Upcoming Holidays

Holiday	Date
Sukkot I — First day of Sukkot	September 26, 2026
Sukkot II — Second day of Sukkot	September 27, 2026
Sukkot III (CH’’M)	September 28, 2026
Sukkot IV (CH’’M)	September 29, 2026
Sukkot V (CH’’M)	September 30, 2026
Sukkot VI (CH’’M)	October 1, 2026
Sukkot VII (Hoshana Raba) — Seventh day of Sukkot — Hoshana Raba	October 2, 2026

All dates begin at sundown of the evening prior. Times are for Diaspora.

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@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
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-'''[[Yom Kippur: Yonah, Prophecy, Teshuvah, and the Fear of Greatness]]''' The shiur opens with the mystery: how could a navi flee his mission? Classical answers are surveyed. Ibn Ezra (drawing on a yesod echoed in the Kuzari) distinguishes between naturally gifted prophets and those who achieve prophecy through painstaking cultivation; a ‘worked’ prophet can lose nevuah when conditions shift, offering a psychological-spiritual window into Yonah’s flight. Rashi resists this, presenting Yonah as fully prophetic but calculating consequences: if Nineveh repents easily, Israel’s stubbornness will look worse, creating a chilul Hashem, and Nineveh’s teshuvah may be transient while Israel’s, once earned, endures. Saadia Gaon’s view that Yonah did go but it wasn’t recorded is noted then set aside by Ibn Ezra and Rashi. This complex of motives reframes Yonah not as a cartoonish rebel, but as a conflicted servant of Hashem, weighing truth, optics, and the nature of lasting teshuvah.
+'''[[Yom Kippur: Yonah, Prophecy, Teshuvah, and the Fear of Greatness]]''' {{AISummaryDisclaimer}}
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@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 <div style="padding:10px 12px;">
-===Parashat Ha’azinu===
+===Parashat Bereshit===
-<div style="color:#555; font-size:0.9em; margin-top:-8px; margin-bottom:8px;">8 Tishrei 5787 · September 19, 2026 · Deuteronomy 32:1-52</div>
+<div style="color:#555; font-size:0.9em; margin-top:-8px; margin-bottom:8px;">29 Tishrei 5787 · October 10, 2026 · Genesis 1:1-6:8</div>
-''Summary for Ha’azinu coming soon.''
+Bereshit opens with the creation of the world in six days and Shabbos. Adam and Chava are placed in Gan Eden, eat from the forbidden tree, and are exiled. Kayin kills Hevel; the generations from Adam to Noach are listed.
 <div style="margin-top:8px; font-size:0.92em;">
-'''Haftarah (Ashkenaz):''' Hosea 14:2-10; Joel 2:15-27 | Shabbat Shuva (with Ha'azinu)
+'''Haftarah (Ashkenaz):''' I Samuel 20:18-42 | Shabbat Machar Chodesh
 </div>
 <div style="text-align:right; margin-top:8px;">
-[https://www.sefaria.org/search#query=Ha’azinu Read on Sefaria →]
+[https://www.sefaria.org/search#query=Bereshit Read on Sefaria →]
 </div>
 </div>
@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; font-size:0.9em;"
 ! Holiday !! Date
-|-
-| Erev Yom Kippur — Eve of Yom Kippur || September 20, 2026
-|-
-| Yom Kippur — Day of Atonement — holiest day of the year || September 21, 2026
-|-
-| Erev Sukkot — Eve of Sukkot || September 25, 2026
 |-
 | Sukkot I — First day of Sukkot || September 26, 2026
@@ Line 104: / Line 98: @@
 |-
 | Sukkot IV (CH’’M) || September 29, 2026
+|-
+| Sukkot V (CH’’M) || September 30, 2026
+|-
+| Sukkot VI (CH’’M) || October 1, 2026
+|-
+| Sukkot VII (Hoshana Raba) — Seventh day of Sukkot — Hoshana Raba || October 2, 2026
 |}