WorldPerfect: The Jewish Impact on Civilization (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Of all the principles we might list, the basic right to life seems certainly the most fundamental..." (more)
Key Phrases: polytheistic world, ethical monotheism, Hebrew Bible, Promised Land, Catholic Church (more...)

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Product Description

Religious History Comes Alive with Words of Wisdom for Today

In pursuit of an answer to the question of what would constitute a perfect world, author Ken Spiro questioned more than 1,500 people of various backgrounds and religions. His findings revealed six core elements: Respect for human life; peace and harmony; justice and equality; education; family; and social responsibility. He then set off on a journey to find out why these were such common goals across cultural, economic, social and racial lines, and in the process, traced the history of the development of world religions, values and ethics.

As a rabbi, he paid particular attention to how Judaism impacted, and was influenced by, the course of these developments. The result is a highly readable and well-documented book about the origins of values and virtues in Western civilization as influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Christians, Muslims and, most significantly, the Jews.

The history of religion, presented in Spiro's highly readable style, is a fascinating and timely subject, especially in today's volatile religious climate. Spiro divides his book into five engaging parts:

· Where the Quality of Mercy Was Not Strained: The World of Greece and Rome · Against the Grain: The Jewish View · A Father to Many Nations: Abraham and the Implications of Monotheism · With Sword and Fire: The Rise of Christianity and Islam · The New Promised Land: Impact of Judaism on Liberal Democracies

Readers of all faiths will find that the elements of a perfect world can only be achieved by a common understanding of our mutual backgrounds and that our diverse religions are all merely branches growing from one single tree.

About the Author

Ken Spiro is a rabbi and dynamic lecturer. He holds a Master of Arts degree in history and a bachelor of arts degree in Russian language and literature. He developed the acclaimed seminar "WorldPerfect: The Jewish Impact on Civilization," which brings Jewish history alive for thousands of people each year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simcha Press (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757300561
• ISBN-13: 978-0757300561
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #428,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Light Among The Nations', January 7, 2004

By	Gary Selikow (Great Kush) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The spirit of love, December 4, 2005

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book about Jewish values impacting the world, November 26, 2002

By	Andrew Gold (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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!