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Blatt focuses on Freud's Jewishness, how it evolved, and how it affected his life, his thinking, and his professional determination. He discusses Judaism, noting that it is based on two contrasting but complementary attitudes: the antinomian, by which individuals relate to God directly and formulate their own notions, and the hierarchical, whereby people relate to God through social and communal structures. Blatt depicts the evolution of Judaism from the antinomian position personified by Jacob to the hierarchically structured society initiated by the Midianite priests and furthered by Moses, who is presented as actually embodying both forces. Blatt comments on social structure in which there is conflict between those who come first and have a direct connection with authority, and those who follow and must struggle to obtain power and autonomy. He closes by noting that Freud established a hierarchically oriented society, and whiled he dispensed with the rituals and dogmatism of religion, he remained true to the essence of Judaism propounded by Jacob in his struggle for individual freedom and responsibility, and that legacy has been passed down to succeeding generations of analysts.