“The story of Jacob is surely a leading candidate for the greatest story ever told. It is one of the most universal of all stories unfolding the struggle of a man against his fears and his passions, his guilt and his despair.”      

Rabbi Olan relates and then analyzes the story of Jacob from the Book of Genesis. For him, this story shows how one can overcome three of life’s universal obstacles: guilt over one’s failures, the fear of being oneself, and the fear of death.

(Rabbi Olan quotes the book of Genesis and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.)

**Guest blogger: Joshua Hirsch**