Jewish father (7)
I believe the answer is:
abraham
'father' is the definition.
(I know that Abraham is a patriarch)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abraham that I've seen before include "Old Testament patriarch" , "First ancestor of the nation of Israel" , "The first Jewish patriarch" , "First patriarch and ancestor of the Hebrews" , "first in race" .)