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The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and
Feels
Thomas Cahill, HarperCollins.
Review
"The Jews gave us a whole new vocaubulary...an inner landscape
of ideas and feelings that had never been known before...Because
of their unique belief-monotheism-the Jews were able to give us
the Great Whole, a unified universe that makes sense..." (The
Gifts of the Jews, page 239-240) In my sixteen years as a Rabbi,
I have found it to be true that it takes an outsider- a non-Jew,
a Jew new to Judaism, a Jew just "returning" to the fold- to sometimes
show us insiders the beauty, meaning and spirituality of our own
Judaism. We take it for granted. But Cahill's book, which was
an instant international best-seller, gives us a grandiose sweep
of our own Biblical history that challenges the jaded, faded,
I remember-it-as-a-kid kind of Jewish ennui so many Jews today
feel.
Cahill traces the origins of Biblical notions which changed the
world from a potpourri of capricious acts of the gods and goddesses
to a reasoned, ordered world of justice, free will, personal responsibility,
and a God who cares. Freedom, progress, spirit, faith are all
"the gifts of the Jews" and Cahill gives Biblical references and
ancient history to prove this thesis.
Some have argued that the book does not take rabbinic Judaism
into account, and as such, is only a Christian- i.e."Old Testament"-
view of the ancient Jews, with no respect paid to the modern Judaism
of today. It might have been more accurate to call the book "The
Gifts of the Ancient Hebrews and Their Religion" but this may
be quibbling over details. The book is a fine read and makes today's
Jew much more aware of the incredible scope of what the Bible-
way beyond little Noah's ark trinkets- has to offer a sophisticated,
spiritual adult.
Rabbi Elyse Goldstein |
