Although countless books have been written on the subject of statecraft, few political biographers have considered Jewish models of leadership. Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in Jewish Statesmanship by Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik comes to fill this gap in political history, presenting ten portraits of Jewish leadership throughout the ages and reflecting on the Jewish values that guided their actions. Rabbi Soloveichik, Director of the Zahava & Moshael Straus Center for Torah & Western Thought at Yeshiva University, chose to feature ten remarkable men and women from across the span of Jewish history: the biblical David and Esther, the Hasmonean Queen Shlomtsion, the first century sage Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, the Sephardic champions Don Isaac Abravanel and Menasseh ben Israel, British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, American Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, and Zionist heroes Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, and Menachem Begin.

Some of these leaders were firmly bound to Judaic religious teachings and others less so, but each was guided, Rabbi Soloveichik writes, “by the fixed lodestar of their own Jewish identity, and the highly compelling duty of service to the well-being of the Jewish people.” In studying the unique challenges faced by these leaders, Rabbi Soloveichik also examines what Jewish tradition has to say about the demands of statecraft itself and the qualities needed by successful Jewish political leaders encountering the challenges of tomorrow. To learn more about Providence and Power, and to purchase the book, click here. You can learn more about the Straus Center by signing up for our newsletter here. Be sure to also like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.