Rosenman examines the role of psychoanalysis as an aid to the Central European secular Jew, whose separation from his religious, cultural, and linguistic past weakened his psychological defenses against his idealized neighbor-enemies. He draws parallels between Jewish values and the principles of psychoanalysis: emphasis upon acquiring knowledge, tolerant attitude toward sexuality, importance of self-examination, study of latent content to understand the manifest, and finally, the salutary effects of truth. Freud is described as a needed hero, whose task was to rescue the Jewish people from that which prevented their being successful survivors: notions of being "exceptions," and the self-pity, rage, and dependency which this generates. An aim of psychoanalysis was to dismantle stereotypes and appreciate human worth through an assessment of both strengths and weaknesses. Both self-destructive impulses and the compulsion to repeat could be understood psychoanalytically, thus enabling the Central European Jews to assess their unique position in a constructive manner.