Book Review: The Gifts of the Jews by Thomas Cahill

Introduction: Promise and Limitation

Thomas Cahill's The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels demonstrates what happens when a great idea is ultimately brought down by a lack of critical and rhetorical rigor. This is not to suggest that The Gifts of the Jews is not worth reading, or that its insights are not valuable, but rather that every surprising fact or remarkable contribution is lessened somewhat by a longing for what the book could have been, had Cahill simply been more precise in his language and more extensive in his sourcing. As it is, The Gifts of the Jews is an entertaining, surprising examination of Jewish history and culture, albeit one whose evidence ultimately falls short of its boldest claims. By examining the book's central thesis regarding the Jewish contribution to the conception of time and historicity alongside the more tangible "gifts" offered by Jewish culture, one is able to see how The Gifts of the Jews represents the seed of a valuable thesis that is only partially developed in the book itself.

The Jewish Conception of Time and History

Although Cahill discusses a number of tangible contributions to human culture provided by the early Jews, the overarching claim of the book is that the Jewish conception of time transformed the way ancient societies viewed history, mythology, and existence. Almost immediately, Cahill's imprecision becomes something of an issue, because although the subtitle suggests that early Jewish thought "Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels," by "everyone" he actually means "the people of the Western world, whose peculiar but vital mentality has come to infect every culture on earth" (Cahill 3). The problem is not that Cahill chooses to focus on the Western world, but rather that he needlessly presents the Western world — and thus the Jewish contribution to Western thought — as the entire basis of contemporary society, thereby ignoring the crucially important epistemological contributions of Eastern religions and philosophy.

Focusing on Western society in particular is not itself an issue, but because the stated objective of the book is to demonstrate how Jewish thought changed the way "everyone thinks and feels," the book's thesis is undermined before one even reaches the actual argument. The reader feels as if Cahill is moving the goalposts before the discussion begins. This is especially frustrating because the information the book provides is both important and insightful; the imprecision of Cahill's language — and the subsequent effect that language has on the book's overall argument — feels like an unforced error. The imprecision exhibited by the subtitle recurs throughout the book.

Works Cited

Cahill, Thomas. The Gifts of the Jews. New York: Anchor Books, 1999.