Nou Ope n 7 Da y s 0r ri I, t pscale Skim From The Gifts of the Jews: "The story of Jewish identity across the millennia against impossible odds is a unique miracle of cultural survival. cnIzI Megan Harber creates great new dishes such as "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. a ncirto Jerks Grilled marinated chicken and served with a roasted red pepperaloll "But however miraculous Jewish survival may be, the greater miracle is surely that the Jews developed a whole new way of experiencing real- ity, the only alternative to all ancient worldviews and all ancient reli- gions. If one is ever to find the finger of God in human affairs, one find it here." remembers realizing that the definitive change in human thinking came with the Bible. Cahill, 58, has the Irish gift of charm; storytelling and humor seem second nature. He's a down-to-earth, intellectual raconteur. His writing style is engaging and lively, sometimes irreverent. "I'm not a rabbi or a priest. I have more leeway — that's the way I talk. The reader should be able to find the author in his prose," says Cahill. He adds: "It's hard for the Irish to be reverent for more than a few min- utes at a time." Cahill, a Roman Catholic, spent two years as a visiting scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary studying Hebrew language and Bible as well as other subjects. He also reads Latin, ancient Greek, French and Italian, and has studied philosophy, scripture, the- ology and literature. The Riverdale, N.Y., resident describes himself as neither an original scholar nor a historian. "I think of myself as a translator of ancient poet- ry, bringing things from the distant past to the ordinary reader, presenting it in a way that's accessible." He doesn't see the book as an intro- duction to the Bible or to Judaism; he wants to show the cultural implica- tions of the revolutionary shift in thinking and feeling. The Gifts of the Jews is the second in a planned seven-title series by Cahill, "The Hinges of Civilization." His aim is to "retell the story of the Western world as the story of the great gift- givers, those who entrusted to our keeping one or another of the singular treasures that make up the patrimony of the West." He won't yet reveal the content of the next volumes. Cahill begins the narrative in The Gifts of the Jews in Sumer in the third millennium B.C.E., describing the culture and outlook of the old world of the wheel, drawing on the Epic of Gilgamesh. Then, closely reading the biblical text, he describes Abraham's break with the Sumerian world, and goes on to describe other biblical figures, flaws and all, and their relationships with God. In researching and writing each book, he says that one figure stood out. In How The Irish Saved Civilization, it was St. Patrick. Here, it is David, whom he came to know through reading the Book of Samuel together with the Psalms. "He's both a great sinner and a great poet — a great combination. He just comes off the page at you." The author credits David, "Israel's sweet singer," with introducing the "interior journey." The notion of self- reflection, absent in ancient literature, is present in David's Psalms, which are "filled with I's," referring to personal emotions of anger, repentance, self- doubt, despair, delight. Cahill writes: "The Jews gave us the Outside and the Inside — our outlook and our inner life. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes." He imagines his audience as three part: Jews, Christians and unbelievers. "I would like to find a language that enables these three groups to talk to one another again. We're all in this together — there are so many conun- drums we'll have to confront in the 21st century. "But it's more than learning how to talk to one another: At least to some extent, we have to feel what the other feels. We have to live in one another's hearts." Offering Fine Wines Cigars DINING Table Side Magicians Performing Nigh tfy Open Daily 11 am-2 am Brunch Sat & Sun 11 am-3 pm 48 686-1313 326 W. Fourth Street Royal Oak Open 7 Days a Week Excellent Thai Food As You Like It ... Extra Mild, Mild, Medium, Spicy and Extra Spicy Rated *** by Detroit News Lunch Specials from SA SO I I :00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. includes soup & r ice ei.ttead 5 eptetlA1 divailaible • epatails eetvect Hours: Mon.-Thurs., I I a.m.-I 0 p.m., Fri & Sat. I I a.m.-1 I p.m., Sun. 12-9 p.m. 6635 Orchard Lake Road at Maple • Old Orchard Shopping Center • 626-6313 ■ ■ ••■••■ •• ■ ■■ • ■ ■ •■ ■ •■ •••II■•• • •• • ••• 1111• ■ ••• ■ NOW APPEARING AT THE PIANO BAR: 1 1 11111111111 1 1111 1 1111111111111111111111 .A Catca T Ao Bost Mo4sic Reviews im N entortahissioNt 5115 1998 119