Originally published in 1998 by Nan A. Talese/Anchor Books in 1998.
The Gifts of the Jews is the second book in The Hinges of History Series by Thomas Cahill. It is a series of histories that look at important long term movements in history that helped create Western Civilization.
I read this book when it was first published and I placed it on my shelf and did not touch it for more than 20 years. Over time, I remembered it as remembered it as a dense tome and continued to keep it on my shelf as more of a trophy to my ability to read through difficult books than for any desire to go back and consult it or even re-read it. That changed when we stuck at home during the pandemic quarantine and we came to realize that our extensive bookshelves were overwhelmed and a purge was in order. This book was "purged" from the shelves, but went in to my to-be-read pile after I leafed though it.
I don't know why I remembered this book as hard to read. Cahill has a real gift for writing. This book was usually interesting (often immensely interesting), easy to read and offered challenging takes on the Old Testament.
Cahill starts with a look at religious worship and religious belief in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. He emphasizes that everything was viewed as an unchanging cycle. This makes sense when you look at nature - the seasons, the lunar cycle, menstrual cycles, the unending cycle of birth and death and more birth and so on. The individual is not particularly important to society (everyone has a place and stays in their place and does what is expected) and the big gods don't particularly care about the individual (sacrifices are done by professionals to the bigger gods). Household gods do care about the individual, but they are limited in power and are prone to capricious behavior. Think about the Greek myths or even the famed literary character Conan the Barbarian who worships Crom - a god who does little to encourage or discourage his followers and mostly just watches over things in a generally disapproving way.
Cahill asserts that the Old Testament is a change in that pattern. He is not unique in this thought - I have heard it at my church on a pretty regular basis. The argument is that Abraham changes the mold by stepping away from Ur, a Mesopotamian city state at the behest of God. Abraham leaves the faceless masses and becomes a known personality. The cycle stops and instead becomes a timeline following Abraham and his descendants and a relationship between a deity and his people.
Cahill builds on this theme and shows that, over time, it becomes more than a relationship between a whole people and God and becomes more of relationship between God and individual people in that group (as typified by David).
During the exile in Babylon, the relationship changed again. Judaism had been forced to return to its roots in Mesopotamia and had to come up with a new paradigm or whither away. The temple and its sacrifices were literally gone.
He dates the book of Ruth as being written in post-exile times (even though it describes pre-kingdom times) and notes that it is a story of regular people trusting in God and doing what is right. Even more importantly, Ruth - the title character - is not even Jewish. It is an effort towards inclusion. One does not have to be a literal child of Abraham to join his people. Judaism is no longer about blood or the location of a temple or even having a temple.
Cahill notes: If their identity as a nation was gone (or at least fundamentally altered), "what more could he possibly want from them? It was in the midst of this conundrum that the unheeded words of the prophets came back to them. God wanted something other than blood and smoke, buildings and citadels. He wanted justice, mercy and humility. He wanted what was invisible. He wanted their hearts - not the outside, but the inside." (p. 226)
The Gifts of the Jews is the second book in The Hinges of History Series by Thomas Cahill. It is a series of histories that look at important long term movements in history that helped create Western Civilization.
I read this book when it was first published and I placed it on my shelf and did not touch it for more than 20 years. Over time, I remembered it as remembered it as a dense tome and continued to keep it on my shelf as more of a trophy to my ability to read through difficult books than for any desire to go back and consult it or even re-read it. That changed when we stuck at home during the pandemic quarantine and we came to realize that our extensive bookshelves were overwhelmed and a purge was in order. This book was "purged" from the shelves, but went in to my to-be-read pile after I leafed though it.
I don't know why I remembered this book as hard to read. Cahill has a real gift for writing. This book was usually interesting (often immensely interesting), easy to read and offered challenging takes on the Old Testament.
Cahill starts with a look at religious worship and religious belief in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. He emphasizes that everything was viewed as an unchanging cycle. This makes sense when you look at nature - the seasons, the lunar cycle, menstrual cycles, the unending cycle of birth and death and more birth and so on. The individual is not particularly important to society (everyone has a place and stays in their place and does what is expected) and the big gods don't particularly care about the individual (sacrifices are done by professionals to the bigger gods). Household gods do care about the individual, but they are limited in power and are prone to capricious behavior. Think about the Greek myths or even the famed literary character Conan the Barbarian who worships Crom - a god who does little to encourage or discourage his followers and mostly just watches over things in a generally disapproving way.
Cahill asserts that the Old Testament is a change in that pattern. He is not unique in this thought - I have heard it at my church on a pretty regular basis. The argument is that Abraham changes the mold by stepping away from Ur, a Mesopotamian city state at the behest of God. Abraham leaves the faceless masses and becomes a known personality. The cycle stops and instead becomes a timeline following Abraham and his descendants and a relationship between a deity and his people.
Cahill builds on this theme and shows that, over time, it becomes more than a relationship between a whole people and God and becomes more of relationship between God and individual people in that group (as typified by David).
During the exile in Babylon, the relationship changed again. Judaism had been forced to return to its roots in Mesopotamia and had to come up with a new paradigm or whither away. The temple and its sacrifices were literally gone.
He dates the book of Ruth as being written in post-exile times (even though it describes pre-kingdom times) and notes that it is a story of regular people trusting in God and doing what is right. Even more importantly, Ruth - the title character - is not even Jewish. It is an effort towards inclusion. One does not have to be a literal child of Abraham to join his people. Judaism is no longer about blood or the location of a temple or even having a temple.
Cahill notes: If their identity as a nation was gone (or at least fundamentally altered), "what more could he possibly want from them? It was in the midst of this conundrum that the unheeded words of the prophets came back to them. God wanted something other than blood and smoke, buildings and citadels. He wanted justice, mercy and humility. He wanted what was invisible. He wanted their hearts - not the outside, but the inside." (p. 226)
I enjoyed this book, but I think Cahill oversold some aspects. There are certainly cycles to Judaism. For example, the Torah is read in worship in a cycle and the annual religious holidays are a cycle. But, maybe I am nitpicking.
There are parts of this book that dragged, especially in the first quarter. But, the rest of it was well worth my time to read. Turns out that I also had the third installment of this series on my shelf so I will be reading it soon. The lesson? Sometimes, it's a good idea to clear off the old book shelves and re-read a book you haven't looked it in a while.
I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE GIFTS of the JEWS: HOW a TRIBE of DESERT NOMADS CHANGED the WAY EVERYONE THINKS and FEELS (The Hinges of History Series #2) by Thomas Cahill.
