Read what people think about The Gifts of The Jews by Thomas Cahill, and write your own review.
The Gifts of The Jews How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels
by Thomas Cahill
Hardcover: Mar 1998,
291 pages.
Paperback: Sep 1999,
255 pages.
Rated of 5
by Matt S
This book is one of the top books of the last 50 years. It clearly elucidates how a simple Jewish thought - you can learn and become more than your parents were - has completely transformed western society. If you read this book through to the end, and interesting question arises: What happens when the western concept of independent thought, independence itself, collides with the asian concept of harmony and group think!
Rated of 5
by Sharon Guzman
I'm not a reader of religious material by choice, but the bookclub I just joined was reading this book. It was interesting to delve into the first books of the old testament and to understand them better. It has given me a chance to look into my beliefs about the bible and it's story.
Rated of 5
by Mike Mitchell
I believe that Cahill is basically just producing the bible in his own words, and basically any one could have done so with a large amount of time.
Review (not rated)
by Anonymous
Richard Katz The Gift of the Jews, like Mr. Cahill's other two books, offers more information and insight than can be absorbed through a single reading. Like the Bible from which he draws so much of his material, serious readers are encouraged to refer to his source materials (e.g., Fox's translation of the Five Books of Moses) for a more complete understanding. While I don't agree with everything the author has to say, all of it deserves careful thought and reflection. Some readers may feel that -- by providing academic, popular, alternative descriptions of issues central to our religious and secular worlds -- Mr. Cahill is playing with fire. I for one welcome the light and heat these books provide. I can make up my own mind and Mr. Cahill's books bring me closer to understanding people from other cultures, religions and times. And that might be the greatest gift of all.
Review (not rated)
by Anonymous
Joe Smith I believe that Mr Cahill does describe Eastern thought, religion, philosophy (take your pick) simplistically. He may do so perhaps more as rhetorical device to advance his thesis. I agree that this flaw weakens slightly the impact of his presentation. However, his core idea that now any person, as a distinct entity, could access eternity, just as any god could, by sustaining a personal relationship with a god who jealously demands it, sounds valid to me. i.e. Let's not get religious about this! It is a book that put light on some dark corners for me. I remain an atheist.
Review (not rated)
by Anonymous
George The author doesn't convince me of a single thing. Rather it seems more likely that the Jews assembled their personal and religious ideas from the more advanced nations around them.
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by Matt S 
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by Sharon Guzman 
