24 | MARCH 21 • 2024 
J
N

M

ichal Oshman borrowed the name of her 
book What Would You Do If You Weren’t 
Afraid? from a sign she saw at Facebook 
when she arrived for her job interview. This 
question, as well as company culture at Facebook, 
not only caught her attention, it also shifted her 
paradigm from risk aversion to embracing and 
leaning into the unknown. 
 Being in an environment where failure is not 
only normalized, but actually encouraged cemented 
the nonnegotiable necessity of risk and failure to 
attain growth and innovation. 
Hundreds of guests gathered at Oakland 
University to meet and learn from Oshman. The 
event was sponsored by Oakland University, the Cis 
Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community 
Engagement, Chabad Jewish Center of Troy and 
Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan. 
Oakland University President Dr. Ora Hirsch 
Pescovitz welcomed guests and posed the question: 
“What does it mean to have a meaningful life?”
Rabbi Menachem Caytak, leader of Chabad 

What Would You Do if You Weren’t Afraid?

Michal Oshman
 at Oakland University

YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN MCCONNELL

OUR COMMUNITY

ABOVE: Michal Oshman engages with guests and signs books. 
TOP: Michal Oshman on the panel.