Jacob Returns / A Poor Man’s Wisdom. Kindred Spirits or Poles Apart?

Although Jacob in book one and Gregg in book two come from completely different worlds, they share many similarities, and particularly their background of adversity. Though contrasting, Jacob’s deprivation and Gregg’s privileged upbringing are equally problematic. Both are in search of an identity. Jacob was deprived of the opportunity to know his father, while Gregg has been kept at a distance by an antagonist father and a mother with severe issues of her own. Jacob is helped by a therapist with whom he forges a close relationship; Gregg, after suffering a near-life-threatening misadventure, relies initially on a female social worker who helps him find his feet. Even the need to start earning a living is common; Jacob had only little to start with, while Gregg takes the extreme step of ridding himself of much of his inherited wealth. But whereas Jacob easily picks up his career as a journalist/author, Gregg has to rely on the discovery of an unfinished artwork, discarded in his studio by a previous apprentice, to provide the catalyst in inspiring him to start work again.

At the outset, the two men are both consumed with blame for the misfortune they have suffered. Both realise that in order to move on, they must rid themselves of, or at least come to terms with, their predicament – but they often go too far, disregarding anything positive in the process. It’s only when they achieve inner peace that they can view their pasts more objectively.

Hillel’s adage^[1] ‘If I am not for myself…’ unsurprisingly finds equal relevance, when the two men both focus purely on self-preservation in an attempt to move forward, rather than making their individual talents count. Jacob immerses himself in doing right by his father, by securing the appropriate tribute previously denied to the erstwhile professor by the university that had dispensed with his services. Gregg, on the other hand, concentrates his energies exclusively in the art school he bails out, as an unconscious way of getting his career back on track.

Up to a point, their spiritual journeys follow the same path. Both are seeded in adversity: Jacob’s as part of his search for identity with the discovery of his paternal Jewish heritage in some old photos; and Gregg’s, although he knew he was Jewish via his mother’s line, through an ethereal calling from his deceased sister.

But whereas Gregg fully embraces his Jewish identity courtesy of a close association with a rabbi – and then goes even further, extending it to his female soulmate, who converts to Judaism – Jacob, once he discovers a spiritual dimension through his father’s belated magnum opus, seems more confined to embracing the traditions rather than becoming fully Jewish himself or, more importantly, extending the faith to his family.

Jacob’s trajectory appears confined to following on from his father’s work, albeit as a successful novelist at the university, a pursuit which unquestionably has a spiritual dimension to it but is limited to the acknowledgement of not knowing, from which he deduces the potential existence of a higher divine power. Gregg, on the other hand, goes further and utilises his new-found celebrity status as an artist to convey his spiritual journey through his work.

The salient point is that both have made making a difference a priority. What separates them is that Gregg has made more of a sacrifice in finding himself both personally and spiritually, whereas Jacob ostensibly has less to lose. But isn’t the real question not the comparison between the two, but whether or not they’ve each fulfilled their respective potential?

Perhaps the best way to look at both scenarios is simply as allegories of any individual confronted by a whole host of challenges which causes them to reassess their lives, come to terms with matters outside their control, and then, hopefully, find a way forward.

The fact that they might take a completely different direction than could previously have been predicted may well be because the process has also uncovered a set of capabilities that are yet to be exploited.

The inability to claim personal credit for this belated discovery might then lead the individual to look differently on the bigger questions in life – no longer dismissive but instead comforted by the realisation that however much they strived to enhance their knowledge, there were things that would best remain beyond their comprehension. That this might also give rise a spiritual awakening of which there may have been either no prior connection or else one that merely needed to be refreshed, cannot be discounted.

Now, embracing the same Jewish heritage as the aforementioned protagonists entailed the individual making practical differences in their level of observance to ensure all that had been learned would not remain purely an academic exercise. Further, if the acknowledgement of the divine provider of all resources came with no exclusive title, would it not now behove the individual to pass on the insight they gleaned by whatever means they had at their disposal, even at a personal cost, in order to fulfil the obligation of making it available for the greater good?

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^[1] Rabbi Hillel’s full quote is: ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?’ https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rabbi_hillel_173085

Stories by John Steinberg