Rating: 
Summary: A book with limited scope and hence, limited impact
Review: In Gift of the Jews, Thomas Cahill's goal is to demonstrate how everything the Western World values are Jewish concepts. Concepts such as progress, freedom, individuality, community, redemption, and the like can trace their origins to the Hebrew Bible. He does this by starting with Abraham and contrasts his relationship with an unseen God (i.e. one that cannot be manufactured out any material substance and hence, one that cannot be manipulated by the worshipper) to the religions in existence in the ancient world with an emphasis on the religious practice of Abraham's attested people, the Sumerians.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.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated and Intellectually Insulting
Review: I expected more of Cahill's writing after watching him on a recent CSpan-televised lecture. His subject, aspects of which are fascinating, truly did not contain sufficient material for a book: an edited version would have made for a dandy essay. Some of the issues he raises are, indeed, revelatory (to me, at least), and, okay, those few items made the entire book worth the read; however, much of it seemed disjointed...a stream-of-consciousness ramble full of personal opinion (much of it contradictory), all couched within legitimate facts and pawned off in its entirety as irrefutable truth. This is not a book for the religious: Cahill likely would beg to differ, but it is chock full of what even moderate Christians and Jews would consider blasphemous. God's name, reputation,and motives are slung around just a little too carelessly for my taste.
Finally, I think the title of the entire series (of which this book is part, i.e., "The Hinges of History") is intellectually insulting. This particular volume is pop history written recklessly.
Rating: 
Summary: A bold title, A very much incomplete work
Review: The title of this book, "The Gifts of the Jews", is very appealing. But this title might be considered as misleading by some readers once they have gone through the book. The title is indeed, bold: How, in over 250 pages, can Thomas Cahill pretend to include the many contributions of these people to the world as it is today, and to "the way everyone thinks and feels"? 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.
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