SCHOOL OF HEBREW & JEWISH CULTURAL RESEARCH
Welcome to Wilberforce Centre for Law and Religion's School for Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Research
We are a leading global theological research center that is focused upon a multidisciplinary approach to both ancient and modern Hebrew and Jewish religion and culture. We provide tutors for scholars doing research in many areas Hebrew or Jewish life, including the ancient biblical languages, academic theology, philosophy, law, history, economics, literature, and the political sciences—from a biblical perspective. We recommend that scholars and researchers begin their doctoral or postgraduate research with the Law of Moses (i.e., the Torah, or Pentateuch); the prophets (i.e., the Nevi’ im); and the other writings (i.e., the Ketuvim), as the cornerstone of their research, and from there they may go in any number of directions: including traditional theological research in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as other multidisciplinary subjects such as family law, economics, general history, and politics. Scholars may elect to enroll at St. Clements University in order to attain the doctorate degree in several related fields.
Israeli - Palestinian Studies
The Balfour Declaration of 1917
Zionism and the State of Israel
Zionism and the State of Israel
The Wilberforce Law Centre promotes "peace" studies involving a broad range of socio-political matters, including the present-day conflict between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East.
Zionism and the State of Israel
Zionism and the State of Israel
Zionism and the State of Israel
Broaden your horizons and join a community of scholars from around the world who specialize in Israeli-Palestinian studies from a theological, non-sectarian, and historical perspective.
HEBREW & JEWISH RESEARCH
WRITTEN TORAH- Jewish Law as Foundation of Human Rights and Western Law and Civilization
WRITTEN TORAH- Jewish Law as Foundation of Human Rights and Western Law and Civilization
WRITTEN TORAH- Jewish Law as Foundation of Human Rights and Western Law and Civilization
- The Puritan and Christian Evangelical foundations of the Wilberforce Law Centre acknowledge the Written Torah (i.e., the Five Books of Moses) as a major cornerstone of Western values, customs, culture, ethics, and law.
- To that end, scholarly legal or theological writing and legal or theological research from the perspective of Judea-Christian values are both highly-regarded and encouraged.
- The intersection of law and religion (including all faith traditions, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) as well as the intersection of law and other disciplinary subjects (e.g., economics) are also highly-regarded and encouraged.
- Working with St. Clements University and its vast network of global scholars, the Wilberforce Law Centre seeks to promote peace in the Middle East, the brotherhood of all mankind, and antisemitism through the commendation of Jewish contributions to Western civilization.
- Master's and Doctor of Philosophy courses, and research projects, and journal publications shall be developed on an ad hoc basis in order to promote these objectives.
* Inquiries should be made to: chancellor@stclements.edu
WORLD ZIONISM- Holocaust Memorial and Human Rights
WRITTEN TORAH- Jewish Law as Foundation of Human Rights and Western Law and Civilization
WRITTEN TORAH- Jewish Law as Foundation of Human Rights and Western Law and Civilization
- The moral-theological significance of the mid-20th century Holocaust and its impact upon the Jewish people must be of great interest of present-day scholars, activists, clergymen, lawyers, judges, and other persons who are concerned about the human rights of everyone-- not just Jews.
- Efforts to abate genocide, racism, and antisemitism must be a universal objective of all concerned citizens.
- To that end, the Wilberforce Law Centre is committed to the Jewish slogan "Never Again," on behalf both Jews and non-Jews worldwide.
- Working with St. Clements University and its vast network of global scholars, various progammes, symposiums, and projects shall be developed to promote these objectives.
- Master's and Doctor of Philosophy courses, and research projects, and journal publications shall be developed on an ad hoc basis in order to promote these objectives.
* Inquiries should be made to: chancellor@stclements.edu
BLACK JEWS- Judaism, Ethiopia, and Pan-Africanism
BLACK JEWS- Judaism, Ethiopia, and Pan-Africanism
BLACK JEWS- Judaism, Ethiopia, and Pan-Africanism
- The Palestinian/ Israeli question is of major concern to the continent of Africa and the African Diaspora.
- The history of the relationship with Jews and the peoples of African descent is long and complex.
- "The Bible refers to Jews living in the region now known as Ethiopia. The prophet Isaiah, for example, spoke of the return of the Jews who had been exiled to a variety of lands, including Cush, which is now part of Ethiopia and the Sudan. Isaiah 18 is devoted to a description of Cush and the people living there. " - Jewish Virtual Library, "Who are the Ethiopian Jews"
- Indeed, many native Black Africans are Jewish, Muslim, or Christian.
- For example, some Black Africans, notably the Bantu-Lemba peoples, are the lineal descendants of the Levitical tribe of ancient Israel.
- There are approximately 168,000 Ethiopian Jews living in Israel (Beta Israel), and hundreds more still living in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, Ethiopian Jews face discrimination and marginalization in Israel, including:
- Lack of acceptance;
- Lack of precise diagnosis for learning challenges;
- Discrimination due to skin color; and,
- Poverty levels that are higher than the general Jewish population
- In the Western Hemisphere, during the early 1900s, persons of African descent facing similar discrimination coined the phrase Pan-Africanism as a replica of Jewish Zionism.
- See, e.g., the life and works of one of the principal founders of Pan-Africanism, Henry Wilmot Blyden (1832 - 1912)(comparing and linking late 19th-century Pan-Africanism to late-19th century Zionism).
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BLACK and JEWISH RELATIONS - United States
BLACK JEWS- Judaism, Ethiopia, and Pan-Africanism
BLACK JEWS- Judaism, Ethiopia, and Pan-Africanism
- In the United States, there is long history of Black-Jewish relations working together to promote civil and human rights.
- Notably, in the field of church and religion, the life and legacy of African-American Baptist Minister William Saunders Crowdy (1847 - 1908), who founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ, and through Pastor Albert Christian reconnected with the Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe in southern Africa, are noteworthy.
- Notably, in the field of international relations, Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, a Black Harvard-trained political scientist, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for mediating a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis.
- Recently, the nation-state of South Africa has condemned Israel for its inhumane treatment of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the South Africans have compared that situation to the system of Apartheid once practiced in South Africa.
- For these reasons and a variety of other examples, the Wilberforce Law Centre encourages scholarly research in the areas of Trans-African/ Jewish relations, as well as Palestinian/ Israeli relations.
- To that end, the St. Clements' Randall M. Robinson International INN of COURT sponsors networking opportunities for Clergymen, Scholars, Lawyers, Judges, and Law Students in who are:
- interested in law, peace, justice, and economic development in Israel and Palestine;
- interested in rooting out antisemitism and anti-Arab sentiments in the United States and around the world; and
- interested in improving relations between the Jewish/ Israeli nation-state and the African nation-states on the continent of Africa, as well as the African American communities in the United States.
* Inquiries should be made to: chancellor@stclements.edu
Zephaniah, son of Cushi (7th Century, B.C.)
Zephaniah, was a 7th century Hebrew-Ethiopian prophet. He was a great grandson of King Hezekiah, and a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. The prophet Zephaniah sought, inter alia, to help reform Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah, which he condemned as follows:
"Woe to the city of oppressors,
rebellious and defiled!
"She obeys no one,
she accepts no correction.
"She does not trust in the LORD,
she does not draw near to her God.
"Her officials within her
are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves,
who leave nothing for the morning.
"Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law."
In the Book of Zephaniah, the prophet is described as “son of Cushi,” and, therefore, it is likely that he had Ethiopian lineage.
In his remarkable work, The Cushite, Or The Descendants of Ham, Rev. Dr. Rufus Lewis Perry associated the name “Cushi” in the Bible to denote racial ethnicity, and he concluded that “those ancient Ethiopians and Egyptians were Cushites, or Negroes descended from the race of Ham.”
Dr. Perry notes that the Benjamite tribe had become most susceptible to taking Cushite wives and that “[h]ence we find Cush the Benjamite, Cushi the courier sent by Joab to report the death of Absalom to this father David, (2 Sam. Xviii. 21), Cushi the father of Shelamiah, (Jer. Xxxvi 14) and Cushi the father of the prophet Zehaniah, (Zeph. i. 1).”
The Prophet Zephaniah writes that the “Ethiopians” or the “Cushites” will be “slain by [God’s] sword.” But this same prophet also writes that “[f]rom beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering”; and (or) “[f]rom beyond the rivers of Cush my worshippers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.”
According to Augustine of Hippo, this passage which includes the reference to “Ethiopia” [or “Cush”] is a reference to “those predictions about Christ by the prophet Zephaniah…. [A] little after he says, 'Then will I turn to the people a tongue, and to His offspring, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him under one yoke. From the borders of the rivers of Ethiopia shall they bring sacrifices unto me.'"
“These are the remnant,” Augustine continues, “of whom the apostle quotes that which is elsewhere prophesied: ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.’ These are the remnant of that nation who have believed in Christ.”
Here, in the Book of Zephaniah, the “remnant,” which is described as the restored Israel, and which is believed to be the Christian Church, explicitly includes the Ethiopian-Cushite faithful.
Thus, the Book of Zephaniah certainly prophesies the rise of an African church emanating upon the borders of the rivers beyond Ethiopia.
Thus, in the positive development of Judaism and Christianity, the continent of Africa and Ethiopia loom large.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy". He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the British Empire and military action to expand it, both of which were popular among British voters. He is the only British prime minister to have been born Jewish.
Self-educated, and a successful novelist, Disraeli fought against anti-Semitism and climbed to the "top of the greasy poll of British politics." Disraeli's "conservativism was compassionate, moral, and humane. As a man of color, Disraeli was a great Jew!
The Black Jews of Africa
Native African Jews in Africa
The Lemba - Bantu Jews
ETHIOPIA: The Lion of Judah
