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Summary: How the Jews changed the world
Review: I suppose this book adds some amunition to the notion of "choseness," which has antagonized the rest of the religious community. The Jews have changed the way we look and feel about the world, and one has to consider the choseness label. The rules in which we play this game of life are based off the laws developed by the rabbinical sages thousands of years ago. An amazing and insightful book
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Summary: A great treasure and a joy to read
Review: This was Mr Cahill's second book that I read and despite my Irish heritage and love for his first book "How the Irish Saved Civilization" I must admit this one was better! Cahill breathes life into Abraham and Moses in ways that no Priest or Preacher ever could. This book actually made me pick up The Bible again and read it with a renewed interest and greater understanding than I had before. END
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Summary: Enough with all the negitivity.....
Review: After reading all the negative reviews of this book, I couldn't help but state my piece. Sure, Cahill does try to justify the actions recorded in a literary tradition that he obviously respects a great deal. That makes his telling of the history of the Jewish people and the Hebrew bible INTERESTING. He does not write in a purely objective way and, as far as I am concerned, that is fine. History, despite what some may argue, is always written from someone's viewpoint- it is never totally objective. As for the book itself, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cahill's writing. It was one of the most enjoyable histories I have read in a while. Furthermore, it is accepted scholarly fact that the Jewish people did invent (or where among the first to use) the linear model of time and among (if not the first) to have a universe in which there was one God. Cahill was also very careful to emphasize that these cultural changes were not instantaneous, but took place over many hundreds of years. So what if Cahill excuses Abraham's use of Sara to get what he wanted. Cahill is looking at history and when looking at history you have to look in the context of the culture at the time the particular history was recorded. In the ancient world, women didn't count for all that much and the original readers of the story of Abraham (and the listeners to the oral tradition before that) would not have exactly been outraged on Sara's account. Overall, though a bit slanted in its interpretations, this book is so full of great storytelling that I would consider it to be well worth a reader's time. (Although I do agree that perhaps the pagan fertility ceremony thing was a bit much.) END
Rating: 
Summary: A lightweight account of biblical Judaism -- Torah Lite
Review: The author tries to give an account of the Jews' contributions to civilization -- surely an ambitious task, walking in the footsteps of such giants as Heinrich Graetz or the modern Robert M. Seltzer. What Cahill ends up producing is a collection of Cliff Notes to the Hebrew Bible. Two stars are granted strictly for the entertainment value of this otherwise insipid puree.
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Summary: Huston Smith better on gifts of the Jews
Review: The gifts of the Jews to western civilization are many and mostly wonderful. However, reading Cahill's assertions their influence becomes incredibly large. The Jews invented everything from God and time to erotic love. Very little supporting evidence is given. When I finished the book I book would have made a good article if it had been edited to delete fantasy and assertions. I recently found that article in the chapter on Judaism in Huston Smith's book, "World Religions".END
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Summary: A Misnomer
Review: Mr. Cahill plays fast and loose with all lot words; there are a lot of comments one could make about lack of tracable sources, he and sometimes quotes from his own publication but what I want mostly to comment on is the content of two specific areas. First, the book is a misnomer because this was NOT a 'gift of the Jews' but rather from GOD (which he backhandedly acknowledges later on). GOD Chose the Jews and tells them that HE WAS going to do battle for the Jews, "The Battle is The LORD's." That is one of the main themes through out the entire Bible and that is precisely why the Jews get sent into exile and discipilined. They tried to do it with out The LORD. Secondly, his language is unacceptable. On page 44, Mr. Cahill paints an orgy scene that we later find out on page 233, "was partly of my own invention.""One reader accused me (M. Cahill) of 'teenage bondage fantasies,' another of 'homoeroticism.'"Mr. Cahill should have listened to them. It smacks of the same type of freedom of expression we find with Mr. Alfred Kinsey, the pervert who had infant children and young boys molested by his criminal friends; for proof of this content please read this brief review, which young can purchase from Amazon.com of Dr. Judith Reisman's Book, Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences. Here is a very brief summary; 'In 1948, the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University was led by eugenicist Alfred C. Kinsey, whose sex research shook America's moral foundation and launched the 1960's Sexual Revolution. Fifty years later new revelations confirm Dr. Judith's Reisman's 1981 expose of scientific fraud and criminally derived data contained in the publicly funded Kinsey Reports. Dr. Reisman's revealed that Kinsey conducted human experiments in a soundproof laboratory built to his specifications at Indiana University, and that the sexual abuse of at least 317 infants and young boys was scientific protocol for Kinsey's 1948 report. Dr. Reisman discloses for the first time the ongoing consequences to the American people and the world based on Kinsey's deliberately skewed research. Kinsey died in 1956 but his Institute endures today under the expanded title "The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction," suggesting an even more ominous threat to human rights and liberty.' Lastly, Mr Cahill quotes a young pharisee (page 236); unfortunately, Mr. Cahill did NOT quote one of his other writings, 'Do not mention these evil things (orgy practices) that are done in secret.' We gain nothing from this kind of content, in fact, we are sadly degridated to depths of kinsey. M Totin
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Summary: The Gifts of the Jews
Review: While the title held great promise, the book failed to deliver anything substantial. Attempting to cover his obvious religious roots, the author leaned heavily into a mixture of New Age, atheism and wholly fabricated scenarios not supported by any substantial historical facts. Playing fast and loose with history, he admits to these fabrications with the plea "It could have happened like that!" At the end of the book, realizing the author has failed to substantiate exactly which "gifts" the Jews have given us (not a difficult thing to do for our culture), he baldly asserts God is "unprovable". END
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: At first the author left me speechless. I couldn't believe one could be so egomanical about the Jews. Caught my breath so I'll try to be brief. Ten stars for the best part in book (p 169) "We know they (dimmest ancestors) looked up at the night sky in wonder, wandered...vague notion of a destination, and heard the prompting of an inner voice..." Another ten stars for his effort in admitting to prior similar literature (Gilgamesh epic) that predates Bible by several thousand years. Also that there might be absurdities and contradictions in Bible. He tries but then personal story that really happened..." (p129) Minus twenty stars for trying to laugh and shrug off Avraham's lies and cowardly acts in passing off Sari as his sister (p66). Then with "Good" God's help punishing the innocent victims of his deceit and walking away loaded with blackmailed wealth. This entertaining act was so successful he did it twice. The author calls it comic and almost a vaudeville routine. Prehistoric people had no feelings of learning values? 2.Jews invented "history and the "new" as positive values. No history or new as positive values prior to the Jews? 3. "Many new things...but faith most of all, which prior to Avraham had no place in religious feeling and imagination." (p 93-4). No faith or religious feelings and imagination before the Jews? 4. Semitic's invented the alphabet and developed by Phoenician scribes, then admits it was borrowed from hieroglyphics. (footnote P.150) 5. Joseph Campbell FORCES evidence to categorically states all religions EXCEPT the Judeo-Christian religions. (no comment) Author calls Jericho, the oldest town on earth (p167). Anatolia" called Jerico, 9,000 BC, an armed trading post. It is less than half the size of Catal Huyuk, the first city, 6,500 BC and still being excavated to lower levels. Jews are a very important part of "it", but discounting the efforts of the rest of the human race is pretty "wild"! Three stars for motivating me to do some checking.
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Summary: Well It is a thesis after all....
Review: After having stuggled with the unusual style of the author, I finally managed to follow the thought process and read this book. I felt as if the author had decided on the title and then tried everything to justify it. Unfortunately, regardless of the value or lack thereof, there is not much in this book in to back up the title. But the good news is that it is entertaining (just following the obvious misconceptions on the Egyptian's religion is worth it). I guess it is also an interresting look at the bible.
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Summary: Take It For What It Is.
Review: First off, understand that this book is largely speculative. If the reader has that perspective, they will enjoy this book very much. Having read other, less favorable reviews, I doubt this perspective is commonly shared by other readers. Cahill uses humor, and charming stories that lift historical figures, such as Ruth, Moses and Abraham, from the pages of common historical drudgery. Although he speculates about their personal character, so did I throughout the book. This didn't prevent me from disagreeing with Mr. Cahill. I found it interesting, for example, to hear the Hebrews refered to as the Hapiru during the course of my reading. Although Cahill does little to prove the valididty of this pronunciation, it does make the book fun and thought provoking. Who cares if Cahill lacks scholarly discipline. It is an interestly brief history, not a doctoral dissertation. Read it for fun. The broader view he attempts to convey will have you wondering what next spiritual step Judeo-Christians might take next.
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