by Bonnie Calhoun

Today, instead of a lesson from the land of the Bible, I'm going to give you a lesson about the people of the land of the Bible. This will start in a seemingly odd place, but I'll tie it together at the end.

In many of his diaries, Christopher Columbus wrote that he was compelled to sail west by the "inspiration from the Holy Spirit." He continued, "It was the Lord who put into my mind the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies."

You might ask what this has to do with the people of Israel? Well, although Christopher Columbus (Christoferens Colombo in Italian) was born in Geneo, Italy, there is evidence to suggest that his lineage was of Spanish-Jewish origin. Columbus' paternal grandfather was a converso who had changed his name from Colon to Columbo.

Conversos were Jews who had, by choice or necessity, converted to Christianity. Apparently, in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, Columbus was raised a Christian, perhaps to survive Jewish annihilation. His use of Spanish forms of his name in his diaries and letters and certain oddities associated with his voyage to the New World, lend credence to the idea that he was Jewish.

In his letters to his son Diego, Columbus put a mark in the upper left corner of the paper that resembles the Hebrew letters bet and hei. These letters denote the Hebrew blessing b'ezrat haShem, meaning with the help of God. The use of bet hei is a blessing that Jews used in letters to loved ones.


This symbol appears only in letters to his son, and during the last years of his life, unusual symbols, as in the picture to the left, began to appear in his writings that suggest he was familiar with Jewish mysticism. He began to sign his name in this triangular fashion, asking that his descendants continue to use this signature. This is a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer. Thus, Columbus supplied his sons with a signature that would allow his sons to say Kaddish for their father when he died.

On March 30, 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed a decree to expel the jews from Spain. Until this time, Spain had been one of the few safe havens for Jews. On April 30, 1492, one month after the edit was signed, it was read publicly. That same day Columbus received the order to prepare for his expedition. On August 2, 1492, thousands of Jews departed from Spain. One of their ports of departure was Palos, the same port and the same day, from which Columbus had intended to depart. Faced with throngs of despairing, heartbroken people that day, Columbus delayed his voyage by one day.

I said all that to get to this:

Jews gathered at the ports, clutching whatever possessions they had been allowed to keep along with dirt from the earth. That day, the 9th of Av., in the Jewish calendar, also commemorated the destruction of both Temples. For centuries, this day had been observed as a day of mourning. On August 2, 1492, the 9th of Av took on a whole new meaning. According to Jewish tradition, to undertake any enterprise on the 9th of Av is considered bad.

Consider some of the following events that transpired in Hebrew history on the 9th of Av. (since the Hebrew calendar has more days than our modern one, this day never falls on the same date each year)"

-The twelve scouts sent out by Moses returned with a bad report.
-The Exodus generation was condemned to die.
-Nebuchadnezzar set fire to the first Temple.
-Romans destroyed the second Temple.
-Romans plowed up the Temple Mount to convert it to a Roman colony.
-The last independent outpost of the Bar Kokhba rebellion fell to the Romans (Mesada).
-King Edward of England expelled all Jews in 1290A.D.
-The last group of Jews left Vienna in 1670 after expulsion from Austria.
-The Turkish government banned the immigration of Russian and Romanian Jews into Palestine in 1882.
-World War I began, precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand.
-A decree to expel Jews from parts of Hungary was issued in 1941.


In the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 12:3, God tells Abram about his future generations, the people of God. He says, "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you: And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

It is notable to reveal that all of these places that expelled the Jews, at the time of expulsions, were prominent powers. They all fell from grace with God.

The only place left today is America.