Discovering The New World

Most of us know the Vikings visited the New World about the year 1000. We have heard there are traces of their early habitation in Newfoundland. But they didn’t stay. We know more about the voyage by Christopher Columbus, and Italian.

By that time there was acceptance that the world was a round globe. Columbus sailed west to reach India which Europe wanted to trade with so as to access the riches of the Orient. Trade through the Mediterranean in those days was being blocked by the depredations of peoples in the Middle East. Spain was hoping their investment in Columbus would pay off by their cornering control of that trade.

It is interesting that this story has a Jewish dimension. Spain was by this time totally in control, with Portugal, of the Iberian principle after 800 years of occupation by Islam. Grenada, the last stronghold, fell about that time to Spanish forces. Attention was turning to the Jews, Spain’s most populous minority, numbering about 800,000.There were already instances of forced conversion. It became the edict of the Crown that Jews had to Jews, conversion or expulsion.

Christopher Columbus had already been rebuffed twice by the Spanish crown after seeking financial support for his voyage of discovery. He set sail for France in the hope of getting support from the rulers there.

Catherine’s financial advisor, Luis de Santangel, a converted Jew, advised Catherine to change her mind, warning of the dangerous loss of prestige for Spain if the French Crown backed a successful voyage. He offered to advance his own personal funds to pay for a portion of the cost. His intervention carried the day. The Spanish backed Columbus.

Historians speculate that Santangel had a personal interest in opening other avenues for Jews to escape the attention of the Spanish church. It has been thought there were at least a half dozen Spanish Jews in Columbus’s crew.  There is speculation that Columbus was a Jew. As it happened, it was a Jewish sailor who first sighted land off the coast of the Bahamas.

Spain’s early influence in the New World, was matched by Portugal’s development in Brazil. Many Jews sought to distance themselves from attention from the Church by settling in the colonies in the New World. The Dutch were early settlers in North America. The Netherlands was the country which became the home of many Jews fleeing Spanish persecution. All these influences in North America were ultimately drowned out by the people flow from the United Kingdom.

The American revolution ushered in “a new birth of freedom”. The American origin is steeped in influences from the Hebrew bible. And a Jew was a major financier of America’s revolutionary struggle. Until the creation and growth of the State of Israel, America has, over the years, proved to be where most of the Jews of the diaspora have sought refuge from the many places they have sought a home over the centuries. It has proved to be the same for many peoples coming to the New World.

It seems fitting that when Israel declared its statehood and independence in 1948, America was the first country in the world to recognize it. It seems appropriate that America, the country we have counted on to share the blessings of the “New World” with peoples all over the globe remains Israel’s most steadfast ally . It will be a tragedy for the world if that does not continue to be so.

 It seems unsurprising that from Israel are coming the wondrous discoveries of every kind that make the lives of people everywhere brighter. They invest more of their budget into research and development than almost anyone else. They are bringing the new world to all peoples. We must remain open to change. Most of us using their discoveries don’t even know how much Israel knowhow has changed and improved lives all over the globe.

With Israel’s capacity to come up with technological wonders, special computer chips or systems providing fresh water in dry climates for drinking or for crops, Israel has shown us the way. They have come up with new defensive mechanisms of every kind that save lives. Those who are friends will be the first to benefit. I’m hoping Israel will come up with a weapon that will make any war unthinkable. We recently saw how an overwhelming attack from Iran led to only shrapnel wounding a child who has recovered. We have all heard of AI. How will Israel use it to improve defenses fpr all of us.We can only dream of how Israel technology will change our tomorrows for the better.

 If you have a problem it is wise to keep checking the internet every day, looking for solutions. Just imagine your life without new health therapies, the cellphone, or using it to check directions to an unknown place . It seems like almost anything we need will soon be at our service.

Our societies often seem to resist the forces of change, raising our fears of the future. Historically we seek a scapegoat for our fears. Too often the powers that be have chosen the Jewish people for that role to distract the public from their own failings, or their own purposes. We need to resist that in order to benefit from what the future may offer us.

I’m looking forward to discovering more of the new world.