Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but lacking
Review: I think Cahill forgot what he titled the book. Very little of this book is actuallly about the gifts that the Jews gave us. He spends most of the book retelling stories that have already been told. I would have liked to read more about how the Jewish worldview actually brought about some of the movements he mentions in Chapter 7 - such as Abolition, Apartheid, etc. He tends to state ideas as if they are facts. I would like some evidence or at least for him to explain why he thinks this way.
Rating:
Summary: Par for the Course: Manageable and Educational
Review: I enjoyed this book but it certainly didn't knock my socks off. I can recommend it to those interested in the Biblical Jews, but I personally thought that Cahill could have done a better job making the book more academic. Instead, the book seems more like a hobby-ish endeavor rather than a serious study. That said, the book was likely geared to the public-at-large so my weak criticism may be wholly misplaced and unfair. At any rate the book was enjoyable enough for me to give it an "average" rating, but I found it to be a let-down.
Rating: 
Summary: A most wonderful book.
Review: WIth so many commentaries written on the Old and New Testament how is it possible to see such a work with "fresh eyes"? Cahill rides the newest wave of Biblical criticism with ease and imagination. Exhaustive this book is not (around 250 pages covering most of the old testament), but it is truly envigorating. Coupled with his following book, The Desire of the Everlasting Hills, it is no longer possible for me to say that the Bible is old and irrelevant. It is a startling work touched by the very hand of G-d. If some of Chaill's ideology is not for you then don't worry about it (his most radical ideas are far less of a intellectual leap than that of Crossan, Borg, and other Jesus Seminar members). This book might begin a journey within you that leads to more investigation.
Rating:
Summary: if you need to read one book about the meaning of the Bible
Review: this is it !!! Thomas Cahill just took me by the hand and made me discover a new way of reading the Old Testament. Characters such as Abraham, Isaac, Moses now make a better sense in my understanding of how the judeo-christian civilization came to be.
If you are not into the religious stuff but will want to know the historical and cultural significance of old civilizations, do pick up this book and read it. Cahill mixes a sublime knowledge of history with great sense of humor. It will be hard to put it down.. enjoy it !!!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, a good way to spark your interests.
Review: This book was readable and, all in all, rewarding. It is not and probably should not be seen as an tradionally academic work. The author obviously put a great deal of research behind this book, however, one should not rely on this book as a source. Rather this book brings an ancient people to life in ways that academic books usually do not and can awaken interest in the ancient peoples that mean old teachers/professors usually killed by forcing students to read works that were written by the most boring men on Earth. While I wouldn't be able to rely on this book as an academic source I can appreciate the perspective the author gives of a people that tend to be neglected or misrepresented.
Rating:
Summary: The root of the change
Review: I thought this book was pretty enjoyable. The premise of how Abraham changed his ways to believe in the one true and living God was interesting. What I really enjoyed were Cahill's asides to the reader. I felt that the people he described weren't these lofty, holy people but everyday folks like you and me. This may be objectionable to some people.This book may not be for the fundamentalist. I think that it is probably more for people who are looking to find out the Who, the Why and the Wherefore of the ancient world. I will say that in reading this book, I feel ilke I should check out Everett Fox's translation of the first five books of the bible. I enjoyed this book, and will buy it later, in addition to the rest of his series.
Rating: 
Summary: Preaching to the Choir
Review: "The Gift of the Jews", by Thomas Cahill. Subtitled, "How A Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed The Way Everyone Thinks and Feels". Audio book read by Richard M. Davidson, Recorded Books, Inc, 1998. The central thesis of Cahill's book is that monotheism was introduced through the Jews. From this first incidence of monotheism, in recorded history, flows a personal relationship with God, and from this personal relationship comes a personal responsibility for oneself, one's relations with neighbors and one's outlook on history itself. Cahill records the personal development, (dare it be termed "evolution"?) of this concept from Abraham and Sarah through Isaac, to Samuel, to David and so on. With each important biblical character, the author examines some aspect of the roots of what we consider Western individuality: personal responsibility, personal conscience, personal culpability of humans in this worldwide picture. All of this can be traced to the monotheism of the Jews. Almost forty years ago, even though I was studying engineering, we were required to take courses in theology. The importance of the Jews to monotheism was covered in freshman year. Having accepted this concept back in my college days (many years ago!), I was surprised that Thomas Cahill thought it necessary to write a book on the subject. He has excellent writing ability, but I think that he knows that he was "preaching to the choir", i.e. writing this book for Jews and Christians already convinced of the importance of the Jews in history. Is he writing for the Muslim world? His use of King James version of the English bible is an indication of his target audience. In the United States, Catholics, at a count of about 65 million, represent the largest single church body. Some might say that this count is optimistic, in that half these Catholics do not routinely go to church. If this is so, then the largest church body is the 32.5 million Catholics, such as myself, who go to church on each Sunday, and on the six Holy Days for the United States. Then, the second largest single church body in the United States would be the 32.5 million unchurched Catholics, who were baptized Catholic, (and therefore are baptized Christians), but who do not attend church, or go only at Easter or Christmas. Neither of these groups would use the King James, so why should Cahill quote from that English version of the Bible? There are better translations. Since the author took so long to establish what I think much of his intended audience already accepted, I could not rate this work highly. I did appreciate the excellent reading abilities of Richard Davidson, whose voice helped me through the traffic jams on Interstate 495, the ring road around Boston.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Cahill's trademark good scholarship and passion for his subject is more than evident in this second book, and the writing is good -- just not quite up to the caliber of How the Irish Saved Civilization. Start with that one; if you love it like I did, this one is worth your time, too.
Rating:
Summary: great fun
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but....
Review: THE GOOD: Cahill's writing. The man is genuinely gifted with a prose style that hooks me like a fish; he's funny, intelligent, profane, and bubbling over with enthusiasm for his subjects, and he gives Jewish people some MUCH overdue credit. However.... THE BAD: Some of the points Cahill tries to make, such as "The Israelites...became the first people to value the New and to welcome Surprise", not to mention saying that Jewish insight will be responsible for "Western philosophy" and "the possibility of modern science" would certainly be subjects of debate, I think. But hey, it's educated speculation like that which sometimes brings us closer to the truth. THE UGLY: Cahill recounting the story of Lot trying to outwit the bugger-happy Sodomites by offering them his daughters. Yeww.
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