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Luis de Torres, was Columbus' interpreter, and the first person from the Old World to step on to the New World.
The only known Jew (there were other Jews, but like Columbus, they hid their identities) on Columbus' voyage was Luis de Torres, though he had to be baptized shortly before sailing. Torres knew Hebrew, Aramaic and some Arabic.
Simon Wiesenthal speculates in "Sails of Hope" that "after the landfall in America, the first words addressed to the natives were Hebrew."
What is known for sure is that Torres was the first European settler in the New World. He set up his own small empire in Cuba, after leading an expedition into its interior and winning the friendship of the Indian ruler.
As an independent ruler of Spanish territory, Torres received an annual allowance from the Spanish royal family.
As an aside, why is Thomas Jefferson's name included in the Hall of Fame's list ?
Because of the connection with U.S. Navy Commodore Uriah P. Levy, an American Jew, who led the fight to abolish the barbarous punishment of flogging in the U.S. Navy, and who regarded Thomas Jefferson as "one of the greatest men in history, who did much to mold the Republic in a form in which man's religion does not make him ineligible for political or governmental life." Thus, about 10 years after the former President's death in 1826, Levy purchased Jefferson's run down estate, that was virtually in ruin. He began a long and costly program of renovation and restoration, including the purchase of an additional 2,500 acres adjoining the historic property. After Levy's death in 1862, his will directed that Monticello -- the house and property -- be left "to the people of the United States."
LUIS DE TORRES (died 1493), perhaps born as יוסף בן הלוי העברי, Yosef ben HaLevi HaIvri, ("Joseph, Son of Levi, the Hebrew") was Christopher Columbus's interpreter on his first voyage and the first person of Jewish origin to settle in America.
While still a Jew, de Torres served as an interpreter to the governor of Murcia due to his knowledge of Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Portuguese. In order to avoid the expulsion edict against the Jews of Spain, de Torres converted to Catholicism shortly before the departure of Columbus's expedition. Columbus hoped that the interpreter's skills would be useful in Asia because they would enable him to communicate with local Jewish traders, and he may also have believed that he would find descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
Luis de Torres, was Columbus' interpreter, and the first person from the Old World to step on to the New World.
The only known Jew (there were other Jews, but like Columbus, they hid their identities) on Columbus' voyage was Luis de Torres, though he had to be baptized shortly before sailing. Torres knew Hebrew, Aramaic and some Arabic.
Simon Wiesenthal speculates in "Sails of Hope" that "after the landfall in America, the first words addressed to the natives were Hebrew."
What is known for sure is that Torres was the first European settler in the New World. He set up his own small empire in Cuba, after leading an expedition into its interior and winning the friendship of the Indian ruler.
As an independent ruler of Spanish territory, Torres received an annual allowance from the Spanish royal family.
Another important Jewish player in the Columbus saga.. Luis de Santangel.
He helped finance, and passionately advocated for, Columbus' first voyage. De Santangel was a vital part of Columbus' support system, & Columbus addressed one of his initial letters of discovery to De Santangel.
They were Catholics, their ancestors were probably Jews as many Spanish.
Papus, hi..
Speaking on Luis de Santangel (Columbus' advocate, and financier), yeah he was a converso (ethnic Jew, baptized into Catholicism). It sucks that that was essentially required back in that era, but de Santangel's family had experienced Inquisition persecution.
I always wonder how many of the converso(s) practiced their ancestral Judaism in private (?) I'm interested in the individual histories of the Columbus' cast.
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