Of Patriarchs and Matriarchs

by Nadine Epstein I watched both the Republican and Democratic conventions carefully, and now that they are over, I remain struck by the vastly different styles of leadership that each candidate has practiced throughout their long careers, and now offers America. Donald Trump is the unabashed and proud patriarch, and Hillary Clinton has shown herself to be cast from the mold of ancient matriarchs. As modern Jews, we are familiar with both styles of leadership. The Torah stars biblical patriarchs who wisely (and sometimes not so wisely) rule their clans, often accompanied by supporting actors — wives who acknowledge the primacy of men, yet assert power in a variety of ways. Their focus is often, but not always, on home and children. Pre-Judaic art as well as worldwide anthropological investigation add another dimension to female power: In...

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DNC Dispatch: “Sometimes You Just Have to Take One for the Team.”

by Amy E. Schwartz It had been, she said, “a difficult week.” It sure had. But when Florida representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz walked into the reception thrown by the National Jewish Democratic Council late Thursday, she was among friends. She was hugged, praised, hugged again. A dozen people asked if she was all right. She kept saying yes, although, at the start of this “difficult week,” a scandal of leaked emails had forced her resignation as Democratic party chair just days before she was to gavel in the convention she had been instrumental in organizing. NJDC Chair Greg Rosenbaum called Schultz to the podium and praised her fundraising prowess, her success in organizing the massive convention, her uncanny efficiency: “I always ask her if she is the real Debbie Wasserman Schultz, because there must be at least...

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