A Message from Rabbi Rubinstein

October 2008

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus was writing about his voyage, he refers to the Spanish Decree of Expulsion: “After the Spanish monarchs had expelled all the Jews from all their Kingdoms and lands in April, in the same month they commissioned me to undertake the voyage to India.”  Historians estimate that anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 Jews were forced to leave Spain by August 1492.  We can imagine the scene at the port of Palos de la Frontera, as the three caravels under Columbus’ command prepared to head westward in search of a new route to India:  The harbor filled with ships, packed with Jews who had been banished from their beloved native land, coerced to leave Spain and sail for other shores and their own uncertain journey.

Ironically, Jews – at least by birth – were, were among the crew of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.  Of these, Luis de Torres is the best known.

The story is that de Torres, who was born Jewish, converted to Catholicism shortly before he embarked on the Columbus expedition. (Jews often had themselves baptized or were compelled to convert in order to remain in Spain and escape persecution.)  De Torres had a unique role among the 100 or so men accompanying Columbus; he knew Hebrew, Chaldaic and some Arabic and was employed to be the interpreter/translator when the expedition landed in India as was planned.  Columbus chose to have someone of Jewish heritage to act as translator based on two assumptions: 1) Jews were traders so there would be Jewish traders in India and 2) Jews, whatever the place of their birth, could converse with each other in Hebrew, their common language. Luis de Torres was perfect for the task.

When land was sighted on October 12, which in 1492 was the seventh day of Sukkot, Luis de Torres and one other companion were sent ashore. De Torres was the first European to step on the beaches of the New World. Since Columbus had not discovered a new route to India but had landed on an island in the West Indies (the Caribbean), de Torres’ linguistic skill was of little avail.

What happened to Luis de Torres is not entirely clear. It is reported that he, along with others from Columbus’ crew, founded the settlement of La Navidad on the island of Hispaniola. (Today, the Dominican Republic comprises the eastern two-thirds of the island and Haiti the western third.)  By the time Columbus returned less than a year later, the settlement had been destroyed.  No survivors were found.

Thus, it happens that Yosef Ben Ha Levy Haivri (noted as Luis de Torres’ Hebrew name) became our Jewish connection to Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Even as the Spanish monarchy expelled Jews from their land, they hoped to reap the benefits of Jewish connections for their commercial goals and financial investment.

This year Sukkot begins during Columbus Day Weekend (Monday evening, October 13).  Though Luis de Torres might not have been aware of the confluence of events 516 years ago, he came to the New World during the festival of Sukkot, a thanksgiving holiday.  His story is one more story in American history that connects our ritual calendar and Jewish life to national historical events in the United States. We, the descendents of Jews such as de Torres who played a role in the development of the New World and our country, have much for which to be grateful.