Dianne Feinstein was tenacious and contradictory — just like American Jews

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died yesterday at age 90, will be remembered for many things: Her rise to power following the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the gay rights pioneer; her 30 years of service in the Senate, where she was the architect of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban and the 2014 report on torture in the Bush administration; and her shattering of numerous glass ceilings on what women, and Jews, could achieve in our country.

Feinstein had lately been in the news for choosing to remain in the Senate despite significant health challenges and long absences. Now, however, this unfortunate coda to her career can be set aside, and we can appreciate instead her remarkable half-century of public service.

Throughout those decades, Feinstein embodied many contradictions — or, we might say, defied expectations.