NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 | 53
— Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah
and Jonah — actually pray
to die rather than continue.
Nor was this true only in the
distant past. Abraham Lincoln
suffered deep bouts of depres-
sion. So did Churchill, who
called it his “black dog.
”
Gandhi and Martin Luther
King both attempted suicide
in adolescence and experi-
enced depressive illness in
adult life. The same was true
of many great creative artists,
among them Michelangelo,
Beethoven and Van Gogh.
Is it greatness that leads
to moments of despair, or
moments of despair that
lead to greatness? Is it that
those who lead internalize
the stresses and tensions of
their time? Or is it that those
who are used to stress in their
emotional lives find release
in leading exceptional lives?
There is no convincing answer
to this in the literature thus
far.
But Jacob was a more emo-
tionally volatile individual
than either Abraham, who
was often serene even in the
face of great trials, or Isaac
who was more than usually
withdrawn. Jacob feared;
Jacob loved; Jacob spent more
of his time in exile than the
other patriarchs. But Jacob
endured and persisted. Of all
the figures in Genesis, he is the
great survivor.
The ability to survive and to
recover is part of what it takes
to be a leader. It is the will-
ingness to live a life of risks
that makes such individuals
different from others. So said
Theodor Roosevelt in one
of the greatest speeches ever
made on the subject: “It is
not the critic who counts; not
the man who points out how
the strong man stumbles, or
where the doer of deeds could
have done them better.
“The credit belongs to the
man who is actually in the
arena, whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who
errs, who comes short again
and again, because there is
no effort without error and
shortcoming; but who does
actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms,
great devotions; who spends
himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in
the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the
worst, if he fails, at least fails
while daring greatly, so that
his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory nor
defeat.
”
Jacob endured the rivalry
of Esau, the resentment of
Laban, the tension between
his wives and children, the
early death of his beloved
Rachel and the loss, for 22
years, of his favorite son
Joseph. He said to Pharaoh,
“Few and hard have been the
years of my life” (Gen. 47:9).
Yet on the way he “encoun-
tered” angels, and whether
they were wrestling with him
or climbing the ladder to
heaven, they lit the night with
the aura of transcendence.
To try, to fall, to fear and yet
to keep going: that is what it
takes to be a leader.
That was Jacob, the man
who at the lowest ebbs of his
life had his greatest visions of
heaven.
The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
served as the chief rabbi of the
United Hebrew Congregations of the
Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teach-
ings have been made available to
all at rabbisacks.org. This essay was
written in 2013.
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
We are here for you
and any of your
legal needs during the
COVID-19 outbreak.
The Probate Law Firm of
The Probate Law
Firm of
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
Happy
50th Birthday,
Andrew !
Love,
Terri, Rachel, Kierra and Charlie Thav
& Jamie, Nikki, Jaden, Noah,
Stevie and Eddie Ryke
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
What Is
Your Plan?.....
Call Us.
We focus on Probate Litigation
and Administration. Administering
estates where everyone is on the same
page. Protecting you from self-dealing
parties appointed by will, trust or the
court. Protecting you from family
members who always want more.
michprobate.com
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
The Probate Law
Firm of