"Brit-Am Now"-59

                 Date:  Sun Jul 28, 2002  12:41 am
 
 
                 Contents:
                 1. Manassas, Virginia very close to Washington, DC
                 2. Appreciation
                 3. Query on Celtic Art
                 4. Early Jewish colonists in the USA
                 5. Was Colombus Jewish?
                 6. Humor

                 1. Manassas, Virginia very close to Washington, DC
                 From: Vic Summerour
                 Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-58
                 It is also interesting to note that Manassas, Virginia is located very
                 close to Washington, DC (about 20-40 miles southwest).
 

                 2. Appreciation
                 From: robert
                 I highly value getting Brit-Am Now and Jerusalem News, in fact I believe
                 it is the most important email I get.
                 Rob

                 3. Query on Celtic Art
                 From: Sandie B
                 <<One thing the Celts are known to have brought with them was a style of
                 angular and curvilinear patterns and a technique of "symbolizing animals
                 and humans in a thought instead of physically drawing them" said Wallace. >>
                 Yair - would this tie in with not making images of animals and birds as
                 understood anciently in the 10 Words?

                 Answer:
                 I doubt it but Celtic Art does derive in part from "Phoenician" and Ancient
                 Israelite sources.

                 4. Early Jewish colonists in the USA
                 From: susana mead
                 Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-58
                 Dear Year,
                 According to the information I have read the early Jewish colonists in the
                 United States were all Sepahrdic Jews that lived in Spain prior to the
                 Inquisition then moved on to other countries like Portugal, northern Africa,
                 England, France and Holland and later resettled in the American continent.
                 New York city was settled by these Sephardim. There were many name changes
                 in the process such as the Diaz in Holland became Hass, etc but these Jewish
                 settlers were Sephardic.
                 Shalom,
                 Susana

                 5. Was Colombus Jewish?
                 We have posted articles on this subject in the past. Here is some more of
                 the same:
                 Source:
                 http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/data/art/SABLE-01.ART

                 "On Columbus Day, do we celebrate a secret Jew? Historians weigh
                 in"

                 by: Martin Sable

                 in: "Jewish Exponent" (October 6, 1989)
                 Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia
                 226 S. 16th Street
                 Philadelphia, PA 19102

                 Some people believe that in observing Columbus Day Oct. 12--
                 a legal holiday in many states--we honor the discovery of the New
                 World by a Marrano Jew.
                 "Marranos" is a term referring to Spanish and Portuguese
                 Jews who professed to be Christian during the Spanish Inquisition
                 to avoid death or persecution. Many of them continued to observe
                 Judaism secretly and, in some cases, so do their descendants.
                 Although there is no definitive proof, a theory has existed
                 for centuries suggesting Columbus' Jewish origin. A number of
                 facts, many stated by Spanish Catholic historians desiring to
                 prove the explorer's Marrano origins and thus claim him for
                 Spain, are well known:
                  They explain his birth in Genoa, Italy, on the argument
                 that his parents were Marranos who fled Spain to escape
                 persecution.
                  It is known that Columbus' interpreter, Luis de Torres, a
                 scholar conversant in many languages, was Jewish; de Torres was
                 the first Spaniard to set foot in the New World. Some historians
                 believe the ship's physician and several seamen were also
                 Marranos, but this matter remains in doubt.
                  A myth exists that Queen Isabella of Spain pawned her
                 jewels to cover costs of Columbus' voyages. It is known that
                 Luis de Santangel, Gabriel Sanchez, Isaac Abravanel and Juan
                 Cabrero, all Jewish officials in the Spanish court, pleaded with
                 Ferdinand and Isabella on his behalf and that Santangel bore much
                 of the cost, according to the noted scholar, Meyer Kayserling, in
                 his book "Christopher Columbus."
                 No wonder there was a Jewish cry, "not jewels, but Jews."
                  A French-language book, published in the early 1980s,
                 purported that Columbus' wife was the daughter of a Portuguese
                 Jewish merchant.
                  A great mystery lies in the Hebrew letters drawn by
                 Columbus at the end of a letter addressed to his son, Diego.
                 What do they signify?
                  Columbus was acquainted with Jews, including the noted
                 mathematician and astronomy professor at the University of
                 Salamanca, Abraham ibn Zacuto, whose astrolabe, almanac and
                 tables Columbus used to navigate.

                  The same subject is brought up in Maurice David's "Who Was
                 Columbus?" published in 1933. Subtitled "A Sensational Discovery
                 Among the Archives of Spain," the book avers in its introduction
                 that Columbus was "a Spaniard and a Jew."
                 Moreover, David says, Columbus secretly remained a Jew
                 despite all the spying of the inglorious Inquisition and that
                 "his name was Cristobal Colon, and never at any time 'Columbus'."
                 Any mystery is tantalizing, and a Spanish-language article
                 titled "The Enigma of Christopher Columbus," published in a 1961
                 issue of the magazine "Sefarad," piques additional curiosity.
                 It deals with a document claiming that Juan Colom was the
                 true name of Columbus and that he was a Marrano Jew born on
                 Mallorca, an island owned by Spain.
                 The article, which includes an illustration from a plate of
                 the original document, claims that the explorer's father was a
                 sail-maker, Domenico Colom, and that his mother was Susana
                 Fontanarrosa. It adds that the explorer concealed his Jewish
                 origins so he could obtain assistance for his voyages from the
                 royal couple.
                 The article acknowledges the assistance of the outstanding
                 Spanish linguist, Dr. Jose Maria Millas.
                 Was Columbus Jewish? Despite the evidence, it is likely no
                 one will ever know because of the lack of specific and verifiable
                 documentation that would provide proof positive, leaving no
                 doubt.

                 Source: http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/southwater/113/columbus.htm

                 Background on Christopher Columbus
                 The case for Columbus's Jewish origins is not presented solely by
                 Jews. The consensus of Spanish and Vatican historians seems to be for the
                 position, while that of Italian historians is against it. Weird, no?
                 Italian historians assert that Cristoforo Colombo was born in Liguria.
                 There position is that his father, Domenico Colombo, was a tower sentinel
                 in Genoa and later a weaver in Savona.
                 Spanish historians insist that Cristobal Colon was the son of Domingo
                 Colon, a wool trader, and Susanna Fontanarossa, both of Pontevedra, Spain.

                 Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Some circumstantial evidence.

                 First some background. He was named Cristobal Colombo at birth. His parents
                 are believed to have been conversos.
                 1. His last name, as presented at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella was
                 "Colon", a Jewish variation of the more common Spanish "Colom" or "Colombo".
                 2. His official report of his first voyage to America to Ferdinand and
                 Isabella began with the following words:" And thus, having expelled all the
                 Jews from all your kingdoms and dominions, in the month of January, Your
                 Highnesses..." A strange beginning statement for someone that just returned
                 from a remarkable, supposedly impossible voyage. Of course the reference to
                 January was just as strange.
                 3. Luis de Santangel, probably a Marrano or Converso, but certainly a
                 recent convert to Christianity loaned the crown 17,000 ducats for Columbus'
                 ships for the voyage in time to leave before August 2nd.
                 4. Columbus employed uniquely Jewish dates and phrases. Instead of
                 referring to the "destruction" or "fall of Jerusalem," he used the phrase
                 "the destruction of the second house." for the destruction of the second
                 Temple using a literal translation of the Hebrew "Bayit."
                 He also employed the Hebrew reckoning of 68 a.d. instead of 70 a.d.
                 5. Columbus is said to have used a unique triangular signature similar to
                 inscriptions found on gravestones of Jewish cemeteries in Spain and South
                 France.
                 6. And perhaps most importantly, in the upper left corner of his letters to
                 his son Diego, was the Hebrew letters "Bet Hey", which stand for the Hebrew
                 blessing "Be Ezrat Ha Shem," or "with G-d's help."
 
 

                 6. Humor
                 Source: Jewish Humor 1
                 http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/southwater/113/
                 A pious man who had reached the age of 105 suddenly stopped going to
                 synagogue. Alarmed by the old fellow's absence after so many years of
                 faithful attendance the Rabbi went to see him. He found him in excellent
                 health, so the Rabbi asked, "How come after all these years we don't see
                 you at services anymore?" The old man looked around and lowered his voice.
                 I'll tell you, Rabbi," he whispered. "When I got to be 90 I expected G-d to
                 take me any day. But then I got to be 95, then 100, then 105. So I figured
                 that G-d is very busy and must have forgotten about me ..... and I don't
                 want to remind Him."
 

                 Mr. Shwatrz goes to meet his new son-in-law to be, Sol. He says to Sol (who
                 is very religious), "So nu, tell me Sol my boy what do you do?
                 "I study the Torah," he replies.
                 "But Sol, you are going to marry my daughter, how are you going to feed and
                 house her?"
                 "No problem," says Sol, "I study Torah and it says G-d will provide."
                 "But you will have children, how will you educate them?" asks Mr. Shwartz.
                 "No problem," says Sol, "I study Torah and it says G-d will provide."
                 Mr. Shwartz goes home and Mrs. Shwartz, his wife, anxiously asks what Sol
                 is like. "Well," says Mr. Shwartz, "he's a lovely boy, I only just met him
                 and he already thinks I'm G-d."


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