The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels [Paperback]

The book is certainly very much incomplete in that it ignores different aspects of the gifts of the Jews. For example, what is the contribution of the Jews to political ideas in the world? What is precisely their impact on other cultures? What about Israel? What is forgotten? Who is forgotten?

In fact, the book is mostly a History of the Jews and Jewish ideas. If the prospective reader is looking for refreshing his memory or learning about the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history in a nutshell, this is an ideal book. Although the beginning of the book is quite slow, one soon feels inspired and captivated by the story. Some of Thomas Cahill's original ideas prove to be vivid and striking, as for example, the interpretation of the name of God (p.110), the implications of the Jews' invention of monotheism (p.156), as well as the meaning of chosenness of the Jews. Moreover, the book is very beautifully told.

One thing is sure: Neither the title nor the book itself can leave the reader indifferent. This book allows the reader to discover or rediscover the Jewish heritage present in each and everyone of us, whether Jewish or not, from a fresh and modern perspective. After all, the greatest gift of the Jews is their historical legacy, and Thomas Cahill has perfectly understood this.

Nobody should underestimate the contribution of these people to the world as it is today, and to "the way everyone thinks and feels". Anti-Semitism, racism, and intolerance in general proceed from misunderstanding, and hatred but more fundamentally, from an underestimation of all the people's contributions to the World. In other words, from real ignorance. As far as anti-Semitism is concerned, I truly believe that, if only these intolerant people read more (or at all...) on Jewish culture, they could not possibly be anti-Semite anymore.

Besides, Judaism is a religion that highly values reading and studying. The best way to learn about Judaism is thus simply to read and study it. And one book, as this one, "the Gifts of the Jews" by Thomas Cahill, helps.

Finally, the best advice I can give to people desirous of learning more about the subject, is to turn to more substantial works and encyclopaedias to bring the gifts of the Jews to better light. Two books that are for example very inspiring, are "The Lord is My Shepherd" by Harold S. Kushner, and "Judaism For Everyone" by Shmuley Boteach. To learn about Jewish traditions and spiritual practices, the best book, so far as I am concerned, is the "Jewish Book of Why" by Alfred J. Kolatch.

The Jews separated themselves from their contemporary civilizations such as the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Sumerians in their concept of time: the latter three did not really grasp the idea of time, believing that life was cyclical in nature, while the Jews believed time was linear and that the future was dependent on actions of the present.

The Jews also emphasized the importance of the individual. Other civilizations believed that only the gods could accomplish great feats, emphasizing deference to the gods and a devalued belief in individualism. Jews, while they revered their God (not gods), believed in the inherent worth of each and every human being inasmuch as each is said to have been created in the image of God. Thus Jews believed that every human being should be treated with dignity and that the rich and well-off had an obligation to assist the poor and marginalized. This view of universal equality among humans can be found in our legal system, where the ideal exists that all men are created equal and that no one is above the law.

Regarding law, the foundations of our legal system also trace back to the Jews and the Ten Commandments; although many laws come straight from Rome and Greece, the idea that one should not steal, kill another, or commit adultery came from Mt. Sinai.

Cahill writes about the lives of three famous Hebrews: Abraham (Avram), Moses (Moshe), and David. The personalities of each are quite different (Avram a well-to-do Sumerian who was ready for whatever he encountered, Moshe a humble mediator between God and His people, and David a blithe, likeable politician), yet all of them never lose faith in God, regardless of the misfortunes they are faced with.

Although the Jews saw time as linear, there is indeed a cyclical nature found in their relationship with God. Throughout their history there have been periods where they have deeply placed faith in God and subsequent periods where they have lost faith in God. Such an ebb and flow is an exemplary allegory to life: everyone goes through highs and lows, but one can always be certain of one thing, and this thought comes straight from the Jews: tomorrow the sun will rise.

Through his analysis of the Biblical text, Mr. Cahill shows how the worldview of the Hebrews developed and how the concepts that we, in the Western World, hold dearest were born. In order to do this form of analysis, Mr. Cahill approaches the Five Books of Moses as a man made document developed over many centuries (Biblical Criticism). While this approach is heretical from a traditional point of view, it is critical for Mr. Cahill to implement to show how the development of Hebraic thought out paced that of the rest of the Western, Middle Eastern, and North African thought with regards to the moral and ethical codes we use to this day.

While the implementation of Biblical Criticism was crucial to the writing of this informative text, Mr. Cahill's assertion that anyone who believes that God gave the first five books of the Bible to Moses is self-delusional, "scrupulously avoiding all forms of scientific inquiry," is itself lacking scientific validity. With all the work generated on both sides of the Biblical Criticism debate both textual and archeological, it is impossible to know with any certainty which approach is correct. What the author fails to realize is that when the morals and ethics exposed in the Hebrew Bible are taken to be man generated, they can be jettisoned by society as archaic which is starting to happen throughout the Western World. The end result of Biblical Criticism is not a society based on peace and justice for all, but on individual's rights at the expense of that of others.