Kushite Kingdom | A Civilization Of Spots

The Kingdom of Cush, Egypt’s neighbor to the south, played an important role in biblical history despite being one of the lesser known kingdoms. According to 2 Kings 19:9, “Tirhakah, King of Cush” came to the aid of Hezekiah against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, when his forces laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E. Without such aid, it is hard to imagine that the Kingdom of Judah would have survived. Judah would have likely gone the way of the Kingdom of Israel—spread to the four winds, never to return.

The land of Cush has been known by many names throughout history. The Egyptians knew the land as Cush. To the Greeks and Romans it was Aethiopia (or Ethiopia—though not to be confused with the modern nation located on the Horn of Africa). The medieval Arabs referred to the country as Nubia.

Regardless of the name by which it was known, Cush played an interesting role in the history of Canaan, Egypt, and the wider ancient Near East as a whole.

Mentioned some 54 times in the Hebrew Bible, Cush features in the historical books—specifically Kings and Chronicles—as well as the prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, and Nahum all make mention Cush or the Cushites.

Levitch's Commentary
Within various reigns of Cush there is enough evidence to show "a Cushite diaspora" the dispersion of the citizens of Cush/Kush out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the globe.

Rashi's Commentary [Chabad.org]
Are you not like the children of the Cushites to Me: Why should I refrain from exacting retribution upon you do not return to Me? Have you not come from the sons of Noah like the other nations? Like the Cushites whom you resemble, as the matter is stated: (Jer. 13:23) “Will a Cushite change his skin…? So will you be able to improve.”

And there it is ..... So will you be able to improve?

Levitch Commentary
A hiarchery in America' as we see in the Torah, the differences on how persons are treated. There seems to be a sense that lives are valued today and all persons should ask the question as Rashi asked .... "or a leopard his spots?" Or an Ashkenazi their skin hue? Or a Jew their evil ways? What does it take for a nation and civilization to change its spots or skin color? Can we conform to the diplomacy of the 613 mitzvot? Becasue even now Hashem is asking us all if we are capable of change.

Core Value Fairness
From 2009 to 2016, the Obama administration established several policies aimed at reducing institutional discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities in the United States, including policies in health care, college admissions, housing, and fair lending.However, with the Trump administration beginning to roll back these efforts in 2017, the future of reducing racial bias through federal policy and the resulting effects on minority groups have become uncertain. While recent surveys have documented large gaps between whites and blacks in their general beliefs about discrimination in the United States today, little attention has been paid in public opinion polling to understanding disparities in personal experiences of discrimination. The objective of this study was to examine the extent of discrimination experienced by black adults in America compared to whites in response to a growing national debate about discrimination in the United States today, building on question modules from prior studies in the field.