Thomas Cahill - The Gifts of the Jews; How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Believes

[jbg]

Finally, a book that is RF appropriate:

Excerpt:

The story of Jewish identity across the millennia against impossible odds is a unique miracle of cultural survival. Where are the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians today? And though we recognize Egypt and Greece as still belonging to our world, the cultures and ethnic stocks of those countries have little continuity with their ancient namesakes. But however miraculous Jewish survival may be, the greater miracle is surely that the Jews developed a whole new way of experiencing reality, the only alternative to all ancient worldviews and all ancient religions. If one is ever to find the finger of God in human affairs, one must find it here.
There is nothing neat about the Bible. As the record of one "family" over the course of two millennia- millennia that are now two to four millennia distant from us- the Bible harbors all the mess and contrariness of human life.

I just finished reading The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels by Thomas Cahill. Don't worry, I did not finish this book in a day; I read a novel called Yellowfingers in between, where I was on a long wait at the library. This one was freely available.

First, the quibble. The title was this book was a bit misleading until the very end, and even then only mildly accurate. The book, however, was probably the most powerfully written of any book that combines the history of the Jews and the theology of most of the Jews. The excerpt above relates to probably the most important fact about Jews and their monotheistic and far more numerous offshoots the Christians and the Muslims. Thomas Cahill traces the Hebrews' history from their Sumerian roots in modern Iraq, through G-d's command to Avram (eventually Abraham) to go "to a land G-d will show you." He outlines their tempestuous history and development into a mature, monotheistic religion.

At the conclusion he closes the loop convincingly. I highly recommend this book.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The book, however, was probably the most powerfully written of any book that combines the history of the Jews and the theology of most of the Jews.

A couple of questions:

1. Does the book purport to be history or "historical fiction"?
2. Have you read As a Driven Leaf?

 

[jbg]

A couple of questions:

1. Does the book purport to be history or "historical fiction"?
2. Have you read As a Driven Leaf?

No and no. Why?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

A couple of questions:

1. Does the book purport to be history or "historical fiction"?
2. Have you read As a Driven Leaf?

No and no. Why?

So it purports to be neither history nor historical fiction. Interesting.

I found Rabbi Steinberg's book to be excellent.