Two days ago, President Trump led our nation in remembrance of Christopher Columbus “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Before there were the 13 colonies there was the North American Continent to be discovered, and there was Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus was born in the City of Genoa, Spain. His family was Columbo, which is an Italian from of Colon, and Colon was Hebrew. Jews were persecuted unless they converted to Catholicism, the state-recognized religion. In this regard, Columbus was referred to as a converso. Regardless of the outward appearance, various documents, mostly Columbus’s letters and associated writings, demonstrate that Christopher Columbus maintained his Jewish beliefs, heart and spirit. He would recite the learned views of rabbis. He frequently quoted from the Tanach (the Old Testament), especially from Isaiah and Ezekiel, not an easy task, and one must appreciate that most likely these books were written in Hebrew at that time.
Most telling was how often Columbus compared himself to King David, who stood strong representing the Jewish people. Columbus recognized King David as a deliverer of his people, the Jews. It was this thought of delivering Jews from constant danger and persecution that began to consume Christopher Columbus to save the Jews and get them away from the ever-increasing attempts to eradicate them altogether. He even began to plan a mission to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, Providence intervened, and God had other plans of destiny for Christopher Columbus. A strong believer in prophecy, Christopher began to reset his vision as he focused his energy for freedom on North America. His biblical reference was Isaiah 24:15 – “So in the east, honor Adonai; in the coast lands, honor the name of Adonai, the God of Israel” (Isaiah 24:15).
Hashem (God) continued to guide and establish divine appointments for Christopher Columbus in his studies of preparation for the now decided journey to North America. The stars as navigational instruments were presented to him by a Jewish astronomer, Abraham Zacuto. An introduction to the heir of the Spanish throne, Princ Juan, was made by – get ready for this – the powerful and influential Catholic Bishop and personal tutor to Prince Juan, Diego de Deza, who himself was a Marrano (a Jew who outwardly or publicly converted to Christianity as a form of preservation from political persecution and death). Is God capable of bringing His will to fulfillment or what?
God continued to guide Christopher Columbus by arranging financial blessings to underwrite the building of ocean-worthy vessels for a journey to the New World, as well as to cover ALL expenses related to the journey. To accomplish this, Hashem Adonai (the Lord God) brought about a meeting between Columbus and one of the wealthiest people in the world at that time. Don Luis de la Cerda, the Duke of Medinaceli. Over coffee and bagels (I just threw this in to see if you were still awake)), these two mapped out a strategy which they could present to the King and Queen of Spain, whose permission was required to build the ships in the first place. By the way, the duke’s family heritage was Jewish!
The influential duke was granted an audience with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Christopher Columbus, the duke, and their Royal Highness’s met at Cordoba, Spain in May of 1486, for a long series of conversations with a decision to: “Refer the request to the Royal Scientists for further study.” You’ve got to love it – government passing the buck and bureaucracy way back then. Four years later, this committee issued an unfavorable report to the King and Queen not to proceed with this wild idea.
HOLD ON: This is PART I
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