(IsraelNN.com) Columbus
was a Jew named Salvador Fernando Zarco and was among those expelled
from Spain in 1492, a rare triangular
Kabbalistic signet indicates. Jose Rodrigues
Dos Santos has authored an
historical novel, Codex 632: The Secret Identity of Christopher
Columbus, which relates the deciphering of a rare triangular
Kabbalistic signet.
The interpretation of the recent
discovery of the signet claims to reveal the secret identity of Columbus. The unique triangular monogram is
similar to inscriptions on gravestones in Jewish cemeteries in
Spain and southern France.
It was used in the agreement between
Columbus and Spanish King and Queen Ferdinand and Isabella. The
Kabbalistic monogram, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, contains two secret
names: Cristobal Colon, his "nom de plume," and Salvador Fernando Zarco, Columbus's birth name, according to the author.
The American Library of Congress
possesses one of four original copies of the Columbus Codex.
The Spanish kingdom signed the
declaration to expel all Jews, stating that "we ordered that the Jews be
separated from the cities and towns... and… ordered that an Inquisition
be established in such domains."
Columbus
replied, "Your Highnesses, having driven out all the Jews from your
realms and lordships... I should go to the said parts of
India, and for this be
accorded me great rewards and ennobled me so that from that time
henceforth I might style myself and be high admiral of the Ocean Sea and perpetual Governor of the islands
and continent which I should discover... from generation to generation."
The only Jews who remained in Spain
were those who converted to Christianity out of fear of being killed.
Many of them continued to observe Jewish law clandestinely, and their
descendents even today are "Marranos" (crypto-Jews) who secretly observe
Jewish laws.
Columbus
came to the attention of the Spanish kingdom through Luis de Santange, a
Jew and an accountant to the Royal Court, Rabbi
Abraham Zacuto and his pupil Joseph Vecinho, a physician to Portuguese
King John II. An astronomer and mathematician, Zacuto developed the
"Almanac Perpetuum," which included the Tables of Navigation in Hebrew.
Luis urged the Crown to approve the
expedition in "an enterprise of so little risk, yet which could prove of
so great service to [the Almighty]...[not] to speak of very great
increase and glory for her
realms and crown..."
Columbus
left Spain on August 3, 1492. the day after the Ninth
of Av, marking the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples. However,
Columbus
ordered his crew to be on board the day before, the same day that was
the deadline for Jews in Spain to convert to Christianity,
leave the country or face death, implying that he was secretly Jewish
and wanted to identify with his brethren.
Columbus
carried with him Zacuto's Hebrew Table of Navigation and charts. His
astronomical tables were translated into Spanish by a pupil of Zacuto,
Joseph Vecinho, physician to King John II. Vecinho may have translated
it for Columbus
for his journey.
Columbus
was known to have studied the Bible and once calculated, incorrectly,
the date of the destruction of the Second Temple as being in the year 68 instead of
70.
Besides the Kabbalistic signet, another
sign indicating he was Jewish is this use of the initials for "B'Ezrat
Ha Shem," or "with G-d's help" in letters to his son Diego.
