Was Christopher Columbus Jewish?

[DonaCatalina]

Was Christopher Columbus Jewish?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/history/stuff-you-should-know-about-co.html

[LadyFae]

Uff, those comments were getting heated!  And they didn't seem to realize that they were all saying basically the same thing!

[Welsh Wench]

Some researchers have postulated that Columbus was of Iberian Jewish origins.

Simon Wisenthal postulates that Columbus was a Sephardi (Spanish Jew), careful to conceal his Judaism yet also eager to locate a place of refuge for his persecuted fellow countrymen. Wiesenthall argues that Columbus' concept of sailing west to reach the Indies was less the result of geographical theories than of his faith in certain Biblical texts—specifically the Book of Isaiah. He repeatedly cited two verses from that book: "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them," (60:9); and "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth" (65:17). Wisenthal claimed that Columbus felt that his voyages had confirmed these prophecies.

Jane Francis Amler argued that Columbus was a converso (a Sephardi Jew who publicly converted to Christianity). In Spain, even some converted Jews were forced to leave Spain after much persecution; it is known that many conversos were still practicing Judaism in secret. The correlation between the Alhambra Decree, which called for the expulsion of all of the Jews from Spain and its territories and possessions by July 31, 1492, and Columbus's embarkation on his first voyage on August 3, 1492, has been offered as support for this claim.

At this point I guess we will never know for sure.  I do know what when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E. all genealogy records were lost. To this day no one of the Jewish faith can prove which of the twelve tribes of Israel they are descended from.

[duffy]

He is overrated anyway. The vikings were here first.

[Welsh Wench]

He is overrated anyway. The vikings were here first.

Oh, for sure! No one ever named a football team called the Columbuses...Columbi?

And the Vikings had cooler ships! 

[groomporter]

All I know is that he was a lousy navigator... I was reading something recently that it seems he may have continued to believe he had reached the Indies even after others realized it was a "new" world. 

[Welsh Wench]

And how can you discover a land that is already occupied with people?

On October 12, 1492 (the first day he encountered the native people of the Americas), Columbus wrote in his journal: "They should be good servants .... I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses." 
These captives were later paraded through the streets of Barcelona and Seville when Columbus returned to Spain.

On October 14, 1492, Columbus wrote in his journal, "with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them."

Yet in an April, 1493, letter to Luis de Santangel (a patron who helped fund the first voyage), Columbus made clear that the people he encountered had done nothing to deserve ill treatment. According to Columbus:
"they are artless and generous with what they have, to such a degree as no one would believe but him who had seen it. Of anything they have, if it be asked for, they never say no, but do rather invite the person to accept it, and show as much lovingness as though they would give their hearts." 

Nonetheless, later in the letter Columbus went on to say:
"Their Highnesses may see that I shall give them as much gold as they need .... and slaves as many as they shall order to be shipped."

In the words of his alleged people, Columbus was a putz.

[groomporter]

And how can you discover a land that is already occupied with people?

In the words of his alleged people, Columbus was a putz.

Meh, semantics he re-discovered it for the Europeans after the Viking failed to create lasting colonies. Still a Schmuck. 

[Anna Iram]

This isn't a trait belonging only to the few or to Columbus alone. We've seen this kind of spirit throughout history.

WW, can you please cite the entire article you've copied your post from? I'd like to read what else is said there. Thanks!

[William_MacKean]

All I know is that he was a lousy navigator... I was reading something recently that it seems he may have continued to believe he had reached the Indies even after others realized it was a "new" world. 

Could have been from his opium addiction.

As for being Jewish:
He did manage to convince someone else to pay for his little voyage, if only to be rid of him.   
(Disclaimer: Told by a rabbi a friend once dated, whose job was to bless the pickles at the Gedney factory in the south metro.)

[Welsh Wench]

With pleasure, A. I.

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/nativeiq/columbus.htm

No one is disputing it hasn't happened through history but the topic here pertains to Columbus.

[Welsh Wench]

And how can you discover a land that is already occupied with people?

In the words of his alleged people, Columbus was a putz.

Still a Schmuck. 

That was my second choice. 

[Anna Iram]

I was making the point that it seems to be the habit of most explorers, world wide, to behave like this. I think if people were able to get past their indignation of how America was "discovered" (and endlessly "rediscovered") and how her natives peoples were treated, they might be able to have an intellegent conversation and not just boo and hiss and name call. Much more interesting to see what his motivations are. Who he was aside from this diregard for others being here first.

Thankyou for posting the link. I like to see the whole story as best I can rather than just excerpts.

[SirRichardBear]

Its always a bad idea and damn silly to judge a person who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago by modern standards.   Only a fool would try and make the claim that Columbus did not have a power and over wheming positive influence on the world of his time and because of his action made the world a much better place than it was before his time.

[William_MacKean]

...
Thankyou for posting the link. I like to see the whole story as best I can rather than just excerpts.

I agree!
Most people don't understand the following:
-The native americans slaughtered the prior inhabitants and each other for a thousand years.
-Slavery was almost required of society back then.  10-25 slaves is a drop in the bucket.  Most of them were criminals or war captives sold to the white man.
-Thruout history, populations move and dominate one another.  Sometimes thru force.  Sometimes thru breeding.  Native war parties often captured women and girls for breeding.
-China has moved more slaves to America in the last 2 years than white man has in his entire existence.  Support China by shopping at WalMart.
-There were no horses or pottery beads (so prominantly featured in native culture and history) before white man arrived.

What happens in settlements and expansion is often terrible.  But if the natives were really that upset about it, they would have rejected the technology, comfort, and casinos that the white man brought to them.

FYI:
My family is married to and involved in native councils and immersion, so let's not get all 'angry white guy' on me.  These are their own facts, that white folk seems welcome to ignore these days.

[Anna Iram]

Well, I appreciate your thoughts, William,  but I don't know that I agree with some of what you've said. I wouldn't call it embracing, more a matter of making the best of your lot. Casino dollars provide better education and better lives for many who otherwise would live in poverty. I do agree that it seems to be the nature of man to use whatever force or means that you have to take from another tribe that which you want. Even within the tribes governments, or our own tribal government, corruption is rampant. We don't tend to treat each other very nicely, do we?

Anyway, back to the subject of Columbus. here's an interesting read:

http://www.columbusnavigation.com/

[DonaCatalina]

Just as a side note, the current Duque de Veragua is Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) and is a direct descendent of the famous navigator.