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WorldPerfect: The Jewish Impact on Civilization

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In this remarkable work, Ken Spiro takes us through four thousand years of history to show how the ethical and moral values that are held dear in the West, such as respect for human life, social responsibility, political pluralism, peaceful co-existence, tradition, family etc, all originate from the Jewish civilization, which grew up in Israel, and gave the world the Bible. The Torah says the Jews need to be ' A Light Among The Nations'.
He begins by taking us through a tour of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, which are often credited with being the predecessors of Western civilization, and shows us a rather horrific picture of how a lot of what they believed and practiced was quite antithetical to Judeo-Christian values.
Hence we learn about the nastier side these ancient civilizations and the wide scale acceptance and practice, defended by Plato, Aristotle and company of such things as infanticide, sexual abuse of children woman abuse, and extreme sexual depravity, as well as the total disregard for welfare of the poor or equal justice.

He then shows us how the Torah and the teachings of Ancient Israel enshrined respect for life, peace, justice, education, family and social welfare.
Through a history of the Jewish people, and religion, as well as the values enshrined therein.
What follows is an account of the Christian and Islamic faiths, which Judaism gave birth to, and their histories and attitudes to humanity etc.
Finally as we journey through time, we learn of the impact of Judaism on modern democracy.
He also shows how secular philosophies such as Communism and Humanism; leave much to be desired, because there morality is subjective, unlike the absolute truth given to us by our creator, enshrined in religious morality.
Hence the English Revolution of Oliver Cromwell, and the American Revolution, rooted in Protestant Christianity and deeply held Biblical values led to lasting democratic legacies, and relative peace in the countries in which they took place.
However the French, Russian and Chinese Revolutions, based on secular philosophies such as the Enlightenment and Communism, lacked all moral restraints, despite there high sounding ideals and therefore led to terror, mass murder and totalitarianism.

Marxism for example is supposed to be based on social justice and equality, but has led to the deaths of over 100 million people, and in my opinion, the word terror and repression, ever known to mankind.
Since in all of the ideologies and religions, he covers, he details the attitudes to and treatment of the Jewish people, I am surprised that he does not highlight that Karl Marx , despite being of Jewish background , was in fact violently anti-Semitic.
Some of Karl Marx's most vicious tracts are reserved for Jews and Judaism.

He concludes that liberal democracy and Judeo-Christian values are ascendant today

However I strongly disagree with Rabbi Spiro, that the United Nations is `perhaps the best example of the universal influence of Jewish values' as he states on page 268, `that it is `dedicated to making the world a better place'
I believe that the United Nations is a modern day tower of Babel, dominated by cruel dictatorships and rampant hostility to the pluralist democracy and Judeo-Christian values represented by the West.
The General Assembly of the UN routinely passing resolutions condemning the tiny Jewish state of Israel, for the mildest measure it takes to protect itself, and aims to remove the Jewish people, from their biblical heartland.
At the same time, it gives its almost unlimited support to every brutal dictatorship on this planet.
In the last year, the UN Human Rights Commission, which includes Red China, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Syria, Iran and Zimbabwe, was headed by Libya! Israel is the only country in the world, which cannot sit on the UN human Rights Commission.
deliberate starvation of Zimbabwe's people and massacres perpetrated by dictator, Robert Mugabe, genoicide of the Kurds, South Sudanese, Christian Lebanese etc, and the nightmarish totalitarian dictatorships in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Syria, Libya, Iran etc

The UN can always be counted on to side with the cruel ones, with the despots.

And while I am -with no apologies- an uncompromising believer in Judeo-Christian values and pluralist democracy, I am not perhaps as optimistic about the outlook for the easy victory of Western, democratic values.

While the Marxist ECONOMIC system may have collapsed, Neo-Marxism with its anti- Western, anti-Israel, pro terrorist, pro-dictatorship dyspepsia is on the rise.
The ideologies of Noam Chomsky - violent hostility to the West and particularly Israel, together with admiration for terrorists and Third World dictatorships, all under the label of `anti-imperialism' and `anti-colonialism', is now seen as the mainstream.
Yes, in university campuses and media, across the world, leftwing anti-democratic, anti-Semitic extremism is more powerful than ever.
Anti-Western revolutionary regimes have taken power. Since Communism has collapsed in Russia and Eastern Europe, anti-Western revolutionary neo-Marxist regimes have gained control in Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, and Haiti, and while Red China has experienced economic liberalization, there is no sign of political liberalization.
The hysterical outcry across the world against the USA's war to liberate Iraq, involved millions of people, and involved massive support for terror, dictatorship and anti-Semitism.
Western, Judeo-Christian democratic values can triumph, but we have a massive struggle ahead of us to ensure that they do.

Although modern Western society inherited most of its culture from the Greco-Roman civilization, the same cannot be said about its values, ethics and principles. In this book Spiro explores the Jewish contribution to Western civilization with regard to Respect for human life, Peace and harmony, Justice and equality, Education, Family and Social responsibility. This is done by investigating the four millennia of the economic and political evolution of the West.

In part one, the author acknowledges the debt we owe to Greece and Rome in the fields of art, philosophy, science, law and government. Then he shows the ugly underside of those civilizations, which involved widespread infanticide, murder as entertainment, inequality, misogyny, contempt for the poor, illiteracy amongst the masses and the glorification of war. Even Aristotle (in his Politics) and Seneca (in Controversiae) condoned and justified infanticide.

In part two Spiro presents the Jewish view of the above. The Torah teaches the value of the individual, the sanctity of life, justice for all, decent treatment of slaves, emphasis on charity and social responsibility. Judaism also encouraged literacy and throughout the Old Testament a longing for peace is expressed.

The next chapter addresses the question of how these Jewish ideas came to exert such a powerful influence, since Israel was a tiny nation and not an empire like Greece or Rome. The author discusses Abraham and the Law that is based on an absolute standard, not on human reason alone. The exodus, the Babylonian exile, the Persian period and Hellenism are also covered here. The clash of Greco-Roman values with Judaism is discussed in detail. This ultimately led to the destruction of the temple and the Diaspora.

Part four investigates the triumph of monotheism in the form of Christianity and Islam. The renaissance eventually weakened the stranglehold of the church and led to the Protestant Reformation. From the 16th century the Bible became accessible to the population at large and started to serve as blueprint for society and government.

The last part deals with the impact of Judaism on modern democracies. It contains much information on the Puritans in England and in America and their role in implementing the social and ethical principles of Judaism. In this way the Jewish vision has become a universal vision. This informative and thought provoking text concludes with a quote from the book of Isaiah.

There are 34 pages of notes, a bibliography of 12 pages and a thorough index. I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in history, culture and religion. What we in the West take for granted, originated from ancient Israel via a tortuous path of blood and tears. In this way, the Jewish people have already been a blessing to the world according to God's will. Let us pray that they will become an even greater blessing in the future.

Rabbi Ken Spiro's book is packed with world history, yet it reads very smoothly and easily. Ken has a real gift for cutting to the core and presenting a few key ideas with utmost precision. He is funny, engaging, and always clear.

Make no mistake about it, this book is a real breakthrough. I found the book so inspiring that I purchased a copy (luckily signed by Ken) for a Chanukah present for everyone in my family. As we approach Chanukah and the celebration of the victory of Jewish values over Greek hedonism, WorldPerfect helps fill in big gaps in our knowledge of Jewish history and the Jewish impact on the world.

Ken came to San Francisco to give a video presentation based on WorldPerfect. I told him that his book and lecture were so good that they had inspired me to quit my high tech job in San Francisco and go study with Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem!

If I have to choose an introductory book for a Jewish fellow who is looking to read a short essay with a comprehensive content about the history and essence of the Jews as religion, nation, and race, this is the book

Written with an easy language and very clear and concise concepts, nobody will have the same view of everyday world after finishing these rich pages

The author Historian and Rabbi, makes at the beginning a survey of the biggest ancient civilizations (Greece and Rome) considered the producers of the ideas, ways of life and principles that gave rise to the development of the Western World and shows how traditional school teaching was wrong, in fact the first seeds of the principles ruling today Western civilization originated in the five books of Moses,

On a second part it dedicates some chapters to briefly explain the Dark Middle Ages in Europe and how the Church distorted and censored Jesus preaching, based on the holy values of the Books of Moses, in order to promote mass ignorance and monopolize economic power

Finishes with very convincing elements explaining how the United States from its very beginnings with the Mayflower pilgrims arrival in Massachusetts helped to constitute a free democratic nation following the values of every individual right to life, freedom, justice, education for all and social benefits based on the mandates of the Jewish Holy Book, the Torah

The above US chapter ("America the beautiful") and the author final conclusions are in my opinion the most juicy sections of the book, as they provide the best insights, teachings and pieces of wisdom that he can convey to us from this outstanding essay

It you happen to be Jewish, it is a mitzvah (a divine command) to perform acts of kindness, everyday, so buy one volume for your best Jewish friend, first, and another one for you then

You will never regret it !!!

I ordered this book after reading Rabbi Spiro's "Crash Course on Jewish History" on the AISH.com site as well two other books recommended by him. I decided to read it before the others because I thought it might be better to get a good overview on the contribution of the Jewish people to modern society before moving on to a more detailed book on Jewish History. I am happy to have done so, because it certainly prepared me for reading Paul Johnson's "History of the Jews", and it's a book which is easy on the eyes to read. It was useful to read again after I had finished Johnson's book. I think that the two books complement one another quite well.

Parts I to III, which comprise roughly two thirds of the book, compare and contrast the laws and ethics of the societies of the Ancient World with those of the Jewish state

Part IV which is much briefer, deals with the 1200 years from acceptance of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the rise of Islam in Asia and North Africa, to the Reformation.

Part V, the final section on the impact of Judaism on the modern democracies is, of course, the most important part of the book.

Rabbi Spiro's thesis is that it was the Puritans and their descendants with their strong belief in the word of the Bible, and particularly the Old Testament, who laid the foundation for ensuring that the ethics of the Mosaic law would be so strongly embedded in the laws of modern democracies.

Although I was certainly aware of the Puritan's belief in the word of the Bible, it simply had not occurred to me that the Old Testament was perhaps of more significance to them than the New Testament, or that the influence of Mosaic Law was so strongly embedded in the American Constitution. I think Rabbi Spiro is very convincing in showing how the most important tenets of our modern democracies (i.e. our present views on Respect for Human Life, Peace and Harmony, Justice and Equality, Education, Family, and Social Responsibility), developed from those Laws which Moses and the Jewish people received from God 4000 years ago. Having read many books on antiquity, including many on Ancient Israel, I think his observations on the ethics and society of Classical Greece and the Roman Empire are right on.

I can also understand why the book is structured the way it is, although I was a little disappointed in the brevity of the section on what was happening to the Jewish people themselves after the Second Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire. I suppose, though, this is appropriate because Rabbi Spiro is focussing on the impact of Judaism on modern democracies rather than what was happening to the Jewish people themselves. The book, however, is supplemented with some very useful notes and an extensive bibliography for further reading.

Paul Johnson's "History of the Jews", (which Rabbi Spiro quotes frequently ), on the other hand, provides great detail on the Jewish people from the remote past to the present day, the focus of his book being more on how the Jews and Judaism managed to survive the trial and tribulations they have suffered over the past 2500 years, and how, in spite of all this they have still been able to prosper. It is this difference of detail and focus which makes the two books complementary, and why I recommend that they be read together.

I think WorldPerfect, itself, should not only be an inspiration to Jewish readers, but also convincing to those who, like myself, are not of the Jewish faith.

Want to know how the Jews have influenced the West, and have a good time in the process? Look no further. Reminniscent of Barbara Tuchman's style, Dr. Spiro's book is both thoroughly serious yet fun and easy to read. It is suitable both for academic research as well as an for a leisurly summer's reading. Well anotated for those who wish to dig deeper. Required reading for any student of the Jewish impact on Western development.

The story of the Jews, is the story of mankind. Spiro's exploration into the depths of history is fascinating, powerful and thought-provoking. What separates this historian's writing from most others is his humanistic view of history. It is both highly relevant to those interested in the modern world, and to anyone looking to understand how we got here.

A poignant account of history which reads like a book.

Everyone should read this book, especially non-Jews. I believe that most people do not know about the indispensible contribution of the Jewish religion to Western civilization, including the concepts of monotheism; equal justice under the law; universal education; equal rights for all, including women; respect for the sanctity of life; the concept of charity and social responsibility; the moral foundation of the family structure; abolishment of cruelty to animals; and more. The Jewish scriptures (the Torah), which non-Jews refer to as the Old Testament, contains all the values upon which our legal system is based. In other words, our country is based on our Judaic tradition, not its Judeo-Christian tradition, as many people believe. Read this book, and you'll be surprised by what you find.

WorldPerfect: The Jewish Impact on Civilization is a must read for everyone. Jew, Christian and Muslim as well as the non-believer will find that Rabbi Ken Spiro's seminal work will provide them with significant insights to the ethical and moral values we hold so dear in the modern world. Jew and non-Jew alike will learn to appreciate what the Jews have done for the world in a period that spans more than 5,000 years. In addition to establishing monotheism for the three great faiths of the world, the Jews gave mankind a code of ethical and moral standards by which to live in harmony with each other. The fact that mankind has chosen not to do so is not because the Jews didn't try. Our own American democratic way of life owes the Jews and Abraham, the father of us all, a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Rabbi Spiro's work is exceptional in its breadth and scope. I had the good fortune of hearing him speak recently and found his presentation related to his work outstanding.

A readable, flowing, coherent collection of history with observations which form what can only be described as a compelling and logical conclusion. An incredibly important work for our times.