WAS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS A JEW?

Special thanks to Kehilot Yahshua, Branchport, NY and the editors of "Time to Seek" publication for permission to-reprint this article.

After Four Centuries, Jews at last give tribute by reciting Kaddish, the memorial prayers, at the tomb of a fellow Jew buried in a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville Spain.

It is believed that Christopher Columbus (his real name was Christobal Colon, a common Sephardi name) was the son of "Marranos", Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. Why?

He left Spain on August 3, 1492. The day which was the Ninth of Av (marking the destruction of the Temple) following the edict expelling all Jews from Spain. His diary states in its first entry,

"In the same month in which their Majesties issued the edict that all Jews would be driven out of the kingdom and its territories, in the same month they gave me the order to tindertake with sufficient men, my expedition of discovery to the Indies."Colon notes also in his diary that he first sighted land during the festival of Succot. Why else would he note this? In his will, he left money "... to a Jew who used to live at the gate of the Juderia (Jewish Ghetto) in Lisbon."

At least 5 of a crew of about 88 men were Jewish. The interpreter and second in command was Luis de Torres who knew Hebrew and Aramaic. Torres was a new Christian. It is thought that he expected to find the ten tribes in India. The ships' doctor, Bernal, and the surgeon, Marco, were also of Jewish descent. No priests were noted for being aboard any of the ships.

Colon's son Fernando admitted in a biography that his father deliberately veiled his birthplace and his origin. In a letter to a Marrano nurse he wrote,

"I am not the first admiral of my family. Let them give me what name they please, for when it is all done, David, that most prudent King, was first shepherd and afterwards chosen King of Jerusalem, and I am servant to the same Master who raised him to such dignity."The Colon Family in Spain and the Fonterossas were business associates. Susanne (Shoshana?) Fonterossa was Columbus's mother. The Fonterossa family was Jewish and one of the Colons was burned by the Inquisition.

In letters to his son, the letters (B) and (H) appear in Hebrew. This was an abbreviation for "Be-ezrat HaShem", "With the help of the Almighty" and also "Baruch HaShem", "Praise the Almighty."

Columbus was fond of using quotes from Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezra, applying them to himself.

The fact that Colon's history has a shroud of mystery to it was common to Jews and Marranos in this perilous time in Spanish history. The fact that his business associates and companions included many Jews and Marranos is also a strong indication. The Vatican has refused to divulge any more information on this subject, declaring Columbus' history has blemishes.

None of Colon's letters are in Italian, he always wrote in Spanish. His first two letters were written to Gabriel Sanchez and Luis de Santangel. Both of them were under surveillance by the Inquisition and had their family members murdered for being Marranos. They helped finance his trip. His third letter was to the King and Queen.

The maps for the voyage were prepared by the cartographer and astronomer, Abraham Zacuto. In his diaries, Colon mentions Zacuto as a personal friend and maintains that the lives of his crew were saved by information of an eclipse of the moon on February 29, 1504. Zacuto's works were written in Hebrew!