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The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Hinges of History) |  | Author: Thomas Cahill
Publisher: Anchor Books/Nan A Talese
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Rating:  153 reviews
Sales Rank: 47985
Media: Paperback
Edition: Later printing
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0385482493
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.04924
EAN: 9780385482493
ASIN: 0385482493
Publication Date: August 17, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Thomas Cahill, author of the bestselling How the Irish Saved Civilization, continues his Hinges of History series with The Gifts of the Jews, a light-handed, popular account of ancient Jewish culture, the culture of the Bible. The book is written from a decidedly modern point of view. Cahill notes, for instance, that Abraham moved the Jews from Ur to the land of Canaan "to improve their prospects," and that the leering inhabitants of Sodom surrounded Lot's lodging "like the ghouls in Night of the Living Dead." The Gifts of the Jews nonetheless encourages us to see the Old Testament through ancient eyes--to see its characters not as our contemporaries but as those of Gilgamesh and Amenhotep. Cahill also lingers on often-overlooked books of the Bible, such as Ruth, to discuss changes in ancient sensibility. The result is a fine, speculative, eminently readable work of history.
Product Description
The author of the runaway bestseller How the Irish Saved Civilization has done it again. In The Gifts of the Jews Thomas Cahill takes us on another enchanting journey into history, once again recreating a time when the actions of a small band of people had repercussions that are still felt today.
The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future. From this insight came a new conception of men and women as individuals with unique destinies--a conception that would inform the Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progress and the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As Thomas Cahill narrates this momentous shift, he also explains the real significance of such Biblical figures as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
Full of compelling stories, insights and humor, The Gifts of the Jews is an irresistible exploration of history as fascinating and fun as How the Irish Saved Civilization.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 153
 An Intellectual and Thorough Book November 1, 1999
37 out of 43 found this review helpful
I opened Thomas Cahill's The Gift of the Jews and immediately fell into a virtual journey throughout the history of the Jewish faith. Beginning with the origins of Biblical style from ancient civilizations, Cahill establishes the premise of the Bible itself and takes us on a tour of the triumphs and burdens of the Israelites. In explaining and interpreting each major action with commendable knowledge and depth, he builds towards the final, dazzling effect of proving the gifts of the Jews as characteristics we utilize daily but take for granted, including our perception of time, the emphasis on individual actions, and the reliance on God not just because we are told to but because we are His. In retrospect, Cahill did a remarkable job instilling a sense of enthusiasm about the Bible in his readers as he drove home specific points important to him. I found his explanation of the Jewish gift of time to be particularly well written and moving, emphasizing that "in this moment-and only in this moment-I am in control. This is the moment of choice..." (146). Cahill provides us with the inspiration to take control of what we are doing, to take a look at the bigger picture (the history of burdened people), and to thank our Jewish ancestors for handing down the "gifts" that have shaped who we are today.
A new look at an old tradition November 1, 1999
29 out of 35 found this review helpful
In the past I have never been fond of historical interpretations such as this one. My motivation in reading The Gifts of the Jews was simply to perform another assignment needed to boost my grade in 10th grade religion class. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Thomas Cahill did a masterful job of making the reader, me at least, look at the whole Bible in a different perspective. Cahill presented the Bible not as a boring guidebook on how one should live but as an animated story of the evolution of the Jewish faith. It was interesting to look at faith from a historical perspective rather than a religious one. Though it might be offensive to some readers who interpret the Bible literally, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the origins of many of our ways of thinking today. This is not just a book for Jews but for anyone, religious or not, who wants to understand the modern Judeo-Christian world we live in.
In the beginning... May 21, 2003
FrKurt Messick (Bloomington, IN USA)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
Thomas Cahill's second outing as author of the hinge-histories is a worthy follow-up, if a bit more simplistic. This book was a very easy read for me, both in content and in style, and I think the general reader will enjoy this book, too. I am used to, in my seminary training, to having weighty tomes to journey through -- this was a refreshing walk in a park.
Unlike his previous subject about the Irish, this book covers a subject on which almost everyone has an opinion, so Cahill's interpretations on the Hebrew Scriptures and history (Old Testament times) will undoubtedly not satisfy everyone. He does a very good job, though, of steering clear of interpretive controversies and sticks to his own reading of history (for better or worse).
He presents this history as a history of what is important in its legacy for us -- no sense in asking questions such as 'Were these really the first monotheists?' &c., because it is a fact that our cultural tendency toward monotheism in the West derives from this band of people. This is the people from whom much of our Western sensibility is derived.
'This gift of the Commandments allows us to live in the present, in the here and now. What I have done in the past is past mending; what I will do in the future is a worry not worth a candle, for there is no way I can know what will happen next. But in this moment--and only in htis moment--I am in control.'
The very idea of regulations, justice, and communal living (beyond the whims of the powerful), and of self-discipline exerted from within, rather than from without, derives largely in our society from these writings. Again, it is not worth haggling over who had the earliest codification of regulations and civil laws--those did not get handed down to us as a living, working text. These texts were, in many respects, the informing texts behind much of Western civilisation.
He covers the history well, neither discounting the Biblical authority nor assuming that seeming contradictions in archaeological evidence is either right or wrong.
Cahill begins with the pre-history of the Jews, talking about the societal, political and geographic realities that would have influenced the ancient Sumerian named Avram, who set out for the land of Canaan. Cahill examines the period in Egypt as being pivotal for societal development, the era of the judges and kings as experimentations with polity, and the diasporic period as one of deepening identity in the face of massive external pressure and, in the end, threat of extermination.
This book is a good sequel, and an important work for the non-historian and non-theologian into some aspects of the history of the Jews that are otherwise often overlooked.
'The Jews gave us the Outlook and the Inside--our outlook and our inner life. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most of our best words, in fact--new, adventure, surprise; unique, individual, person, vocation; time, history, future; freedom, progress, spirit; faith, hope, justice--are the gifts of the Jews.'
The shared gift of our common humanity March 23, 2005
Shalom Freedman (Jerusalem,Israel)
17 out of 23 found this review helpful
If I could I would personally thank Thomas Cahill for writing this book. Like Paul Johnson, Conor Cruise O'Brien ,the late James Parkes, and a very long list of others he is one of those non- Jewish , in this case Christian writers, who show a deep understanding and appreciation of the Jewish people's contribution to humanity.
I write this now with special feeling because the world recently has seen a rise in anti-Jewish feeling( admittedly more from the Islamic than from the Christian world) which so deeply distresses as it comes a little more than half a century after over one- third of the Jewish people were murdered simply because they were Jewish.
And here I think I come to one of the gifts of the Jews spoken about in the book. While the emphasis in the work is on the Jewish gifts of Monotheism, of deepening appreciation of human individuality, of understanding History as a progressive redemptive story ( and not a hopeless cyclical repetition) of social justice, I want to here focus one quality the Jews stressed.
It is the quality of being merciful and compassionate. And it is the commandment which of all commandments is repeated most in the Bible i.e. the commandment to be just and compassionate to the stranger because you were strangers in Egypt. And here it is important to note that the signature of the Jewish people, the name of founding father is Abraham ( in Hebrew Av-Rachum Merciful Father). And that this quality of mercy and consideration of valuing each and every human being as a special creation of God is the major idea the Jewish Tradition teaches Mankind should hold dear.
I know there is criticism of this book along the lines that the Egyptians also had some idea of Monotheism, and that the Greeks certainly( though their formative period came later) had an idea of 'individuality'. But it seems to me that the question is not one of taking credit or blame .
It seems to me rather that there are fundamental values which all of Mankind should share, and that one basic one is respecting the dignity and divine essence of every individual. I think that Cahill presents a convincing argument that the people of Israel helped make this contribution to Mankind.
It seems to me in this that the gift of the Jews, the greatest gift, the idea of a moral and loving God Who cares for each and every human being, and Who demands of them a walking in the way of mercy and justice is in this sense perhaps best spoken of not so much as a 'gift of the Jews' but as a gift of God to Humanity in which the Jews served as messenger of.
great fun November 7, 2001
Orrin C. Judd (Hanover, NH USA)
21 out of 29 found this review helpful
Thomas Cahill succeeds on a number of levels in this book. First, he succeeds in the primary task of
the popular historian, making history compelling, and readable and important to our modern lives.
Second, he makes the things we know, and take for granted, seem fresh and marvelous. Finally, he
shows us that even more wonderful ideas and themes lurk just beneath the surface of the history that
we all think we know. The result is a book that confirms our understanding of the importance of the
Jews and makes us appreciate them in ways that many of us may not have before.We well understand the central importance of Judaism to be its monotheism. A world with many gods
offers no guidance for human behavior; different gods may demand different behaviors. But a single
God can command one set of behaviors from us, and is therefore the source of morality, of the
morality which can bind an entire society or civilization, eventually the species, to one coherent set of
ethical principles. The one God, a unity Himself, provides Man with the understanding that the
Universe is a unity and is governed by a single, unified set of laws and principles. This is a
magnificent thing, and by itself would be a sufficient gift to make the Jews a great people. But Cahill only even gets to this part of the story after explicating a prior gift, one that is just as
important to Man's development : the idea of progress. Prior to the rise of Judaism, men believed in
life as a circularity. We're born. We die. The next generation comes along and repeats the process.
Life has no direction, merely keeps reiterating itself. Cahill explains that it is only with Abraham and
the command of God that he "Go forth from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's
home to the land that I will show you." that the idea of life as a journey of discovery is born. Cahill
understands Abraham to be, and makes us understand him to be, our first great explorer, the first
human to intentionally set out for the unknown. Further, he demonstrates how this notion of life as a
process or a progression created the very idea of history, of a past that was different than the present,
and the understanding that the future will be different than the present, that the way things are now
will eventually be history. By the time he's done, Cahill may well convince you that "Abraham went"
is the most thrilling passage in all of literature. There is much more in the book, as Cahill attempts, largely successfully, to demonstrate that nearly
every single facet of our lives has been shaped by Judaism. He throws off ideas like a blacksmith
throws off sparks, and if some sputter out, many more of them catch fire. He definitely has some
political biases, sometimes welcome, as his determination to show that anti-Semitism is wrongheaded,
sometimes less so, as his argument in favor of a kind of gushy social justice. But the fact that he is so
opinionated generally serves him well, and if he sometimes slips into hyperbole, he is never less than
thought provoking. He has a great deal of fun with his topic and you will too.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 153
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