It would not be an exaggeration to say that Christopher Columbus’s voyage , began on 6 September 1492, when three diminutive ships sailed from the Canary Islands and set out westward across the Atlantic Ocean into the unknown, was one of the most fateful in history.  From it followed the European and Christian conquests of the Americas, the subjugation of the original inhabitants, massive immigration from the Old World to the New and the emergence of the United States of America as a super power.  The quincentenary of the voyage in 1992 aroused strong feelings on a range of issues, though few would deny that, positive or negative, the European discovery of the Americas was a major turning point in the history of the world.

The question that needs concern us, for the purpose of this article, is whether Columbus, outwardly a devout member of the Christian Franciscan order, was in fact Jewish.

In order to gain understanding of the problem, one needs to look more closely at the position of the Jews in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates back almost two millennia.  After the Muslim conquests of most of Spain in the early 8th century C.E., there was a fairly long period of Jewish – Muslim co-operation, especially in the south Spanish province of Andalucía.  Cultural tolerance largely prevailed, although Arabic culture was dominant. Over time, there were Muslim pogroms against the Jews in Spain in which thousands were killed.  When Maimonides fled from Cordoba in 1148 with his family, he was fleeing the North African fundamentalists of his day – the Berber al – Mohads. Such was the insecurity of life, that there is no single Spanish Jewish figure, whether a poet, writer, statesman or theologian, who was born, lived and died in the same place.

From the 1000’s C.E., the Spanish Kingdoms began to drive the Muslims (known as Moors) from Spain. In 1479 the Kingdoms of Aragon and the Castile united, bringing almost all of what is now Spain under one rule.  It was only in 1492, that momentous year, that Spanish forces conquered Granada, the last centre of Moorish control in Spain.  It is true that attempts were made to baptise the Moors, as was done with the Jews, and they were finally expelled from Spain as were the Jews.  But scholars point out that Islam never posed the same sort of threat to Christianity as did Judaism.  Between Christianity and Judaism there was a deep ideological divide on the divinity of Jesus and whether he was the Messiah.  Between Islam and Christianity there was no such debate. Muslims recognised the prophetical status of Christ, only arguing that Mohammed was the last of the prophets.

Between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries in Spain, as the Christians reconquered the land from the Muslims, Jews were repeatedly confronted with a terrible choice.  So long as they remained Jews, they would be harassed and, sooner or later, attacked by the mob.  Their enemies made it unmistakably clear that Jews would find no peace. 

The Jews of Spain, it should be remembered numbered more than 5000.000, well over half of the Jewish population in all of Europe.  Over time, they had achieved prominence in every sphere of society, from commerce to the sciences.  The beginning of the end of Spanish Jews came in 1378, when Archdeacon Ferrant Martinez, incited the people of Seville to destroy the city’s twenty–three synagogues.  Despite royal pressure to prevent them, riots swept through Spain in June 1391.  But even under attack and decline in the 1400s, the largely middle class Jews of Spain were regarded as a success story among other Diaspora Jews, battling to survive in a hostile Europe.

On 31 March 1492, the Jews in Spain were given four months to make a terrible choice – they could convert to Christianity or get out of the country and leave all their possessions behind.  About half of the Jews chose exile, and the rest became “conversos” or “new Christians “.  Some “conversos” in fact, became devout Catholics and turned against the Jews, but others tried to maintain their original faith in secret. 

Practising Judaism in secret, these Crypto – Jews were called “marranos” meaning swine.  The poorer Jews generally chose to leave, but the elite were divided. Don Isaac Abrahanel (1437 – 1508), who served as minister of finance in the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella, refused to convert and, abandoning his great wealth and titles, went into exile.  Abraham Seneor (1412 – 1493) who served as titular rabbi and supreme judge of the Jews in Castile, and was prominent in the royal court, offered the monarchy a vast fortune to rescind the edict – to no avail.  On 15 June 1492, Seneor and his family were baptized in a grand public ceremony, attended by the king and queen.

They were resented by the “old Christians”, especially the religious order of monks, who looked upon their profession of the Christian faith with suspicion.  The infamous Inquisition, with its torture chambers and public executions (auto-da-fe) , set up by Ferdinand and Isabella in February 1481, to root out non-
Catholic beliefs and practices from the population of Spain, worked with relish to extirpate suspicious or devious “conversos”.  The Inquisition in Spain had a very long life surviving for three-and-a half centuries, to be finally abolished only in 1834.

By the end of July 1492, the last of the Jews choosing exile were boarding the ships that would take them away to an unknown future.  They had lost everything and had no assurance that they would be allowed to land anywhere.  It is not improbable that Columbus had passed some of these refugee ships as they left harbour on his journey westward.  What had he thought of these defeated and despairing people?  Did he feel anything for them approaching kinship?

The debate about Columbus’s origins has raged for years.  The most comprehensive work on Columbus’s Jewishness was written by a former Spanish Ambassador to the USA and France, Salvador de Madariaga.  In his 500 page book first published in 1940 and reprinted in 1967, de Madariaga presented the thesis that Columbus was a Marrano born of Spanish parents who had emigrated to Italy.  Most scholars today believe that the ancestors of Columbus converted to Christianity following the anti-Jewish riots in Spain about a century before the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.  The family settled in Genoa, Italy, where as part of a supposedly ordinary Catholic family of weavers, Columbus was born in 1451.

Let us consider some of the facts that we do know.  His real name was not Columbus -  in fact, he was never called Columbus during his lifetime!.  The Spanish styled him Christobal Colon.  This family name, Colon, was common among Jews at the time.  The leading rabbi in Italy during the fifteenth century, for instance, was Joseph Colon (c.1420 – 1480) 

It seems that around 1479, Columbus, who had become a seaman at a young age, married a Portuguese noblewoman of Marrano descent.  In any event, he joined his brother in Lisbon after being shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal.  According to Simon Wiesenthal, better known as a “Nazi hunter” but also an avid researcher of Columbus, who wrote Sails of Hope (1973 and 1991), archival evidence indicates that Columbus wrote some dozen intimate letters to his son, Diego.  All of them bore not just the obligatory cross at the top, but also a strange boat-like symbol in the upper left-hand corner.

With the help of an American-Jewish scholar, Maurice David, Wiesenthal deciphered it as two Hebrew characters, beth and chei, standing for Baruch Hashem (praised be the Lord).  It was, Wiesenthal thought, Columbus’s way of reminding his son of his family’s origins (even if the cross indicated their official outward religion).  Columbus, in fact, enjoined his son to always use this cipher at the top of his letters.

“I spent a lot of time in Seville (at the Columbus Library)”, Wiesenthal later recalled, “I had in my hands all his writings that have survived – not just letters, but books he had read, with his jottings in the margins, and books he valued enough to have copied for himself at his own expense :  usually by hand, because this was very soon after Gutenberg (1397 -1468 – the German inventor of movable type) “.

“In all, I find two hundred and fifty references by Columbus to Jews.  He knew the Jewish calendar, the Jewish prophets, and his diary showed deep knowledge of Jewish history.  The beliefs of Columbus were a mixture of Christianity and Judaism.  In a book of history by Pope Pius the second, he makes a marginal note that the year 1481’s Jewish equivalent was 5241.  He writes that Adam lived to be one hundred fifty years old and, when he tells how the Second  Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in the year Seventy by the Romans, he calls it Casa Secunda, (Hebrew Bayit Scheini), the Second House.  Only Jews use that phrase;  in no non-Jewish publication have I ever met this idiom, Second House.

“But the most important marginal note I find is the one that  that tells me Columbus knows the diary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled in the east three centuries before him and came to the conclusion that the ten lost tribes of Israel were in “India”.  So now I go back to the register of the crew and look a little closer.  Not only are there a number of Jewish names, but later I learn that several in Columbus’s crew spoke Hebrew and a couple of them may have been rabbis.  And who was the interpreter on board?  Louis de Torres, who had been interpreter for the Governor of Murcia, which had a large Jewish population.  It took me two weeks to confirm that Louis de Torres had been the governor’s interpreter of Hebrew. 

Now the only possible explanation of this is that Columbus expected to reach countries in which Jews lived and governed “.

There is no doubt that Columbus ‘s actions showed a strong affinity with Jews.  In the opening of his journal on his expedition, he referred to the expulsion of Jews from Spain as though it was uppermost in his mind. 

Although his ships were manned and ready to sail, he delayed the start of his voyage from Spain by one day until 3 August 1492.  The previous day was the ninth of Av, the fast day marking the destruction of the temples and therefore, for Jews, an inappropriate day to launch such an important mission.

Such were the heavy involvement of Jews in the funding of Columbus’s voyage that one historian, Herbert Adams, noted that it was “not jewels, bur Jews” who underpinned the first expedition.  Columbus, it should be remembered, had to plead and bargain with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, over a period of seven years before being given the royal consent.  Even then the expedition was largely on his own terms.

Columbus clearly had strong Jewish support.  His principal allies and financial backers included Abraham Seneor, Don Isaac Abrabanel and Louis de Santangel, , a “converso” who was controller – general of the royal household.  Without Santangel, the voyage might not have taken place.  When the monarchs balked at funding the voyage, Santangel offered to put forward the necessary funding.  This is confirmed by account books in the Spanish archives which indicate that Santangel advanced 1,400,000 maravedis for the voyage.  Further assistance was given by another “converso”, Gabriel Sanchez, the chief treasurer of Aragon.

It is not without reason that Columbus’s first letters after his discovery were addressed not to the Monarchs but to the two crypto – Jews, Santangel and Sanchez.

Astronomy and cartography were the most important Jewish sciences in Spain and Columbus’s voyage would have been inconceivable without the work of famed Jewish astronomers and cartographers like Yehuda Ben – Moshe Cohen, Isaac Ben Sid, Abraham and Judah Cresques.  The foremost astronomers in Columbus’s day were Abraham Ben Samuel Zacuto and his student Joseph Vecinho (who became a converso).  They invented the nautical instruments and worked out the tables that Columbus used to guide his fleet.

Over the years there has been speculation as to how many Jews, “conversos” or “marranos”, actually sailed with Columbus .  Wiesenthal claimed that up to one-third of the 120 crew were “conversos”.  Angel Alcala of Brooklyn College believed that only three crewman were of irrefutable Jewish origin : Maestro Bernal, ship’s surgeon; Marco, a cook; and the aforementioned Louis de Torres, the “Marrano” interpreter, fluent in Hebrew and Arabic, who was baptised shortly before the voyage.  Others have added Rodrego Sanchez, a relative of Gabriel Sanchez, who was presumably sent along to oversee the investment and Alonzo de la Caille, whose last name was derived from the “Jew’s lane”, the name given to the Jewish quarter of Spanish cities.

It is believed that when Columbus’s fleet comprising the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria landed in the New World, namely the Bahamas, on 12 October 1492, the Hebrew interpreter, Louis de Torrres, was the first
member of the expedition to set foot ashore and in fact addressed the native “Indians” in Hebrew.  Wiesenthal is at a loss as to what the interpreter said to the Indians, but, he adds, with his dry pan humour, “ I can tell you that the Indians said back to the white man :  “Now begins the tsoris (troubles) “!

Neither Columbus or any of the “conversos” among the crew planted a crypto – Jewish settlement in the New World.  His interpreter, the “converso” Louis de Torres, remained in Cuba, but there is no record of his having established a secret synagogue on the island.  If any secretly defiant “conversos” among the crew had hoped to join the expedition to escape the purges and Inquisition on the Iberian Peninsula, they and their descendants were to be greatly disillusioned.  Although large numbers of crypto – Jews migrated in the years following Columbus to places such as Mexico, Brazil and other South American territories, they could not escape the wrath of the omnipotent Catholic Church.  In Mexico, for example, the first “autos – da- fe”, public burnings of heretics, took place in 1528.  The Inquisition was formally established in 1571, heralding an unrelenting search for crypto or secret Jews in the new colonies.  This lengthy campaign of persecution was driven as much by the supposed need to defend Catholicism as by feelings of economic competition or greed (the wealth of “relapsed” Jews or heretics was confiscated by the crown).

After his epoch-making voyage of 1492-3, Christopher Columbus made another three voyages to see the New World.  By the close of this fourth voyage, he had lost the confidence of the Spanish monarchs.  Although wealthy, he complained bitterly that the Spanish authorities had broken promises to him.  He felt slighted that other men had usurped his role in “his” Indies.  When he died on 20 May 1506 at his house in Valladolid, he was in his mid-fifties. No-one from the Spanish court troubled to attend his funeral.

So, can we claim an ethnic kinship with Christopher Columbus?  Was he a member of the Hebrew “tribe”?
Ostensibly, Columbus was born and died a Christian, although his son once cryptically declared that his father’s “ progenitors were of the blood royal of Jerusalem”.  Intriguingly, when Columbus died, a strange bequest was found in his will :  “half a sliver mark to a Jew who usually stands at the entrance to the Ghetto of Lisbon, or to another who may be named by a priest”.

What did this mean?  Was Columbus paying due recognition to his Jewish origins?  Should Jews now openly claim him as one of their own?  As Simon Wiesenthal once noted humorously, although not without a hint of seriousness, in future all Jews would have to observe three, instead of two Jewish holy days : Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and – Columbus Day!

 

Over 40 years ago, on January 9, 1968, the Israeli Navy’s INS Dakar submarine departed from England headed to the port of Haifa. There were 69 crewmen on the submarine who died when she was lost at sea a few days after departing Europe. On January 25 1968, two minutes after midnight, the INS Dakar transmitted her last communication. From that moment on, no further signals were received. Two months later, the Defense Minister Moshe Dayan announced that all the submarine’s crewmen were to be classified as fallen soldiers.  Thirteen months after the submarine was lost, an Arab fisherman found the submarine’s stern emergency buoy marker washed up on the coast of Khan Yunis. This discovery gave hope to Israeli forces that they could find the INS Dakar, and search expeditions continued. However, it was not until 1999 that a search team detected the submarine’s remains between Crete and Haifa. Since then, every year the Israeli Navy holds a memorial ceremony for the fallen seamen of the INS Dakar Submarine.

For over 500 years a small Jewish Community from Lebanon, Brazil, Syria and Egypt has been in Haiti.

Each year on Yom Kippur Rudolf Dana locks himself in his Petionville , Haiti home – protected by guard dogs and security personnel and passes the Day of Atonement fasting, praying and reciting the traditional liturgy of repentance and forgiveness.  Up until 10 years ago, Haiti’s tiny Jewish community would gather in a home on Yom Kippur and pray alongside a video recording of a Yom Kippur service that Dana’s brother in law, a cantor at  a New Jersey Synagogue had mailed to him. But in recent years, the community has become too small and disjointed to warrant even such modest holiday gatherings.  When the catastrophic , 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti on January 12 2010 Dana happened to be in Miami on business.  In the days since the quake – which levelled much of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas including Petionville.  Dana 61, who owns a propane distribution company, had been on the phone and internet around the clock, trying to make contact with friends and his nearly 500 employees.
Most but not all of the people who work for survived the quake, but many of them lost loved ones. Dana says hundreds of his friends and acquaintances died in the disaster.  “Some were in the supermarket; some where in schools; some where in universities; some were in banks,” he said.

Those who survived are, for the most part, homeless. Their homes have been either reduced to rubble or, like Dana’s house, suffered major structural damage, rendering them unsafe.  The more fortunate Haitians are living out of their cars, and the less fortunate ones are sleeping outside on tarps.  All of the hotels and churches and places that people could gather have been destroyed, he said. It is  not like one is good, and the others are down; They are all down or could collapse at any time. There is no more city.  Dana has been in touch , via the Internet – an enabled satellite phone that he kept in his Port-au-Prince office, with many of his employees, who have managed to set up a makeshift office, outside of the badly damaged building that housed his company.

These days, they are not dealing in propane, but in rice, beans and cooking oil.   Dana said he managed through his business connections, to get a shipment of food staples, and that his company has been distributing meals- cooked with firewood to some 300 people camped out near the office park.  Dana said that he is not sure when he will return to the country where his grandparents settled at the turn of the 20th century, and where he was born and has lived for most of his life.

Dana’s deep Haitian roots are part of the country’s long Jewish history.

Back in 1492, Luis de Torres, Christopher Columbus’s interpreter, was the fist know Jew to step foot on what is now Haiti.  Brazilian immigrants of Jewish ancestry settled there in the 17th century, though many perished in the slave revolts at the turn of the 19th century that ultimately established Haiti’s independence from France.

Then came a small wave of Jewish immigration to Haiti from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt – the influx that brought Dana’s grandparents – during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Many of these Middle Eastern Jewish immigrants made a living importing and selling textiles, and they sent their children to the local Catholic schools.

The islands’s Jews were joined during the 1930’s by about 100 European Jews who came to Haiti fleeing from the Nazis.  The Haitian Jewish Community peaked mid-century at about 300 members, many of whom left for larger, more established Jewish communities in the United States, Argentina and Panama. Archeologists have also found evidence of a Crypto –Jewish , or Marrano community that once existed in the western Haitian city of J’amie.

During the 1940’s and 1950’s , Jews who grew up in and around Port-au- Prince
remember how the community would import matzah for Passover and would gather together , 50 to 60 people strong for the High Holy Day services. “ Services were held in one of the largest homes;  men sat in the front and women sat in the back,” said Vivianne Esses, 76, who lived with her family in P’tionville until she was 13, before moving to Bogata Columbia and later to Brooklyn New York.  In Jamie, where Marie Mizrahi grew up in the 1940’ and 1950’s , hers was one of only a couple of Jewish families in town.  Although she and her family were not very observant, they managed to observe Jewish traditions and never ate shrimp or pork. Both Esses and  Mizrahi fondly recalled the sweetness of Haiti’s mangoes, the fruit that remains one of the country’s main exports.

Today, Haiti – a country of 9 million people, where the dominant religions are Catholicism and Vodou – has an estimated 25 Jews. Most of them live in Petionville, a relatively affluent enclave situated in the hills above Port – au – Prince. Some of the country’s Jews are among the wealthiest residents of the island nation, where about 80% of people live in poverty.

Haiti has no rabbi and no synagogue. Dana cannot remember the last time local Jews were able to gather a minyan.  There is a Torah, which is kept in the home of Dana’s cousin, Gilbert Bigio, the
Haitian business magnate with interests in the steel, telecommunications, banking petroleum and food sectors.  One of Haiti’s wealthiest citizens and the de facto leader of the island’s Jewish community, Bigio owns the land on which Israel,  after the quake, set up its military field hospital. said Amos Radian, who is Israel’s honorary consul of Haiti, and  was in Florida at the time of the earthquake.  The ambassador had received word that the Bigio family had survived the earthquake.  But because nearly all forms of electronic communication were down, it took more than a day to locate him.

Radian said that the Bigio family had been the key to their success in opening the hospital just hours after the Israeli army team’s January 15th  arrival in 2010.  Haiti and Israel maintain full diplomatic relations. Radian said that , during the 1960’s and 1970’s , Israel ‘s international development organization, Mashav, was active in creating “special farms” in Haiti, and teaching locals about sustainable agricultural practices, such as the use of drip irrigation and greenhouses.  Kenneth Ades, 41, a Jew, who resided in Haiti as a child, said his father, a writer and real estate investor who lived in P”tionville until his death in 2005, had his own plan for improving Haiti’s agriculture, legal system and general infrastructure. He was very patriotic about Haiti and had a blueprint to bring Haiti back but it was going to cost $6billion. That was before the earthquake.

 

The Jewish Maritime League Trophy.

The JML presents an annual floating trophy to the graduate on the officer’s course who displayed the highest level of Esprit de Corps during their Practical Leadership Assessment.
The annual floating trophy was originally presented for the first time at the inception of the college. Being the recipient of this award is a proud achievement for a SA Naval officer who will have his accomplishment recorded on his CV. This year, for the first time, in addition to the engraved floating trophy, the JML presented the recipient, Cadet A L Goxo with a brass JML plaque with his name engraved on it which he will retain.

 

JML Chairman Alvin Kushner presenting the Esprit de Corps Award from the Rostrum.

 

After an initial visit to South Africa by some 10 youth sailors from Israel back in 2004, made possible by the JML, some 7 years later, Bertie Phillips and his daughter Aviva Phillips travelled to Israel in April 2011 and made contact with, Dido Daadush (21) who was 14 at the time and Zeev Shafrir who was the group leader.  Together they rode their bicycles from Tel Aviv to Yaffa Port where they met with the Israel Sea Scouts leader Dr Colin Gorfil (70) who made aliyah to Israel from South Africa in 1967.

The purpose of the visit to the Israel Sea Scouts base in Yaffa Port was to obtain information on the “AN ANCHOR FOR LIFE” programme. This is a social programme that target boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 who either do not frequent school or are on the verge of dropping out of the formal education system. These adolescents include both Jews and Arabs, Israeli born “sabras” and new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

Through their participation in the maritime programme these unfortunate youngsters acquire the skills to satisfactorily deal with the dangers they face. Matching oneself against the open seas enables increasing self-awareness, self-control and inner discipline. Combined with team work the youth the programme helps to provide a socially acceptable and personally challenging alternative to drugs and substance abuse. The programme includes the development of life skills to enhance the process of self-empowerment and decrease anti-social behaviour.

It was a great moment when Colin and Bertie agreed to explore a further exchange whereby two South Africans would be invited to spend a week in a Summer Programme with the Israel Sea Scouts, possibly as soon as in July 2011. After a cup of coffee and some biscuits in the Yaffa Sea Scout Base, the delegation featured in the photo below took a swift ride to Tel Aviv Marina and back in the Israel Sea Scouts Zodiac that accompanies the youth on their sail training expeditions.

Colin kindly invited JML members to make contact with the Israel Sea Scouts when next in Israel and to go sailing on the Mediterranean Sea.

 

Colin and Bertie	Delegation of JML and Israel Sea Scouts returning to base at Jaffa

 

Two ships were drifting helplessly in the North Sea. High winds and stormy seas damaged the rudders and the ships were at the mercy of the storm. Fortunately, the ships were driven towards the shores of the Netherlands, and finally found shelter in a Dutch harbour.

Among the passengers on the ships were ten refugee families from Spain. They appeared to be Spanish noblemen, but actually they were Marranos – secret Jews – who remained loyal to their faith despite the persecutions of the Inquisition. To all appearances they were Christians, but in secret they observed their Jewish faith and festivals. Life in Spain, however, was made impossible for them, for the agents of the dreaded Inquisition watched them constantly, and anyone suspected of practicing any Jewish precept was burnt alive at the stake, and his wealth was forfeited to the Church. And so these ten families had hired ships and fled from Spain in search of a friendly country, where they would be able to throw off their hateful disguise and become Jews openly and freely.  Divine Providence brought them to the shores of Holland, which, not long before, had freed herself from Spanish domination. These Jewish families were among the noblest and richest in Castilla (Spain). They were fortunate to be able to take with them a great deal of their possessions, gold, silver, household goods and merchandise.

While the ships were undergoing repairs, the Marranos took their possessions off the ships, and rented rooms in the harbour.  After a good night’s rest, one of the passengers together with his son, took a walk. They passed a butcher store, where a fine duck was hanging in the window, with a label on which there were two Hebrew words “bassar kosher” (kosher meat). The boy had never seen such writing before. “What strange language is this?” he asked his father.  “Hush”! his father replied, and the boy wondered why his father’s face suddenly grew pale. They went right back, and the father asked the innkeeper, “ Are there any Jews in this place. and are they allowed to live in peace”? “Yes senor”, replied the innkeeper. “Since our country threw off the yoke of your country twelve years ago in 1581, this has become a free country, where anyone can live in peace and worship his G-d according to his faith. This was wonderful news, and the senor continued to ask the innkeeper if there was a Rabbi in that community, and could he perhaps introduce him to the Rabbi. “Certainly, senor I will be glad to take you to the Rabbi. He is a fine gentleman, beloved by all. His name is Rabbi Moshe Uri, “ the innkeeper said.

Two elders of the Marranos lost no time and went to see the Rabbi. Rabbi Moshe Uri Ashkenazi had come from Germany and the little Jewish community in the Dutch harbour town welcomed him and honoured him for his learning and kindness to all. When the two Spanish noblemen came to him, he received them in a very friendly way, but could not understand their language. His son Aaron served as interpreter. “We have confidential business to discuss with you”, the Spanish gentlemen said, throwing a suspicious glance at the young man. “You may speak freely, gentlemen,” the Rabbi replied, “ for this is my son Aaron”
The two Marranos told the Rabbi who they were, and how they chanced to come to this town. “We want to return to our faith and be reunited with our people. For many years we have risked our lives to remain loyal to our G-d and our Torah; we are uncircumcised; our children do not even know the “aleph-Beit. But the fire of devotion to G-d still burns in our hearts. Help us, Rabbi, to return to our people.

Rabbi Moshe Uri listened to their story, which had moved him to tears. When they finished their tale of horror of what they had been through under the shadow of the Inquisition, the Rabbi replied, “My dear brethren, in this place it would not be advisable for your to stay.  There are very few Jews here, and your arrival has already created a stir in town. The country people are suspicious of Spaniards and we might all get into trouble. However, the city of Amsterdam is not far away. There is a larger Jewish community there. Go to Amsterdam, and rent rooms in Junkerstraat, and hang out a red ribbon from the window.  In a few days from now, we will come and circumcise all your men and boys to bring you into the Covenant of our father Abraham. Then we will teach you all you have to know about our faith, and you will live with us like brothers”.

The Marranos followed the Rabbi’s advice.  In due course , Rabbi Moshe Uri and his son Aaron arrived in Amsterdam and went to Junkerstraat. Soon they were embraced affectionately by the Marranos. The brit ( circumcision) took place quietly.  The first to enter the Covenant of our father Abraham was Don Jacob Tirado, the eldest and noblest of them all. Then one by one they were all circumcised.

After they recuperated, Rabbi Moshe Uri and his son began to teach them all that Jews have to know about their faith, how to pray from the siddur, say the blessings, put on tefillin, and so on, and the Spanish Jews learnt with diligence and devotion, until they needed the services of Rabbi Moshe Uri no longer. They sent word to their Spanish brethren , relatives and friends, secretly informing them how fortunate they were to be in Holland, and urging them to join them. Thus the little Spanish Jewish community grew, under the leadership of Don Jacob Tirado. They lived quietly, trying not to attract too much attention, as the fear of the Inquisition was still very strong in their hearts.

Then came the Solemn Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  The Marranos in Spain always observed the Day of Atonement.  They used to gather in the cellars of their homes to pray to G-d on this most solemn day of the year. Now being in free Holland it was not necessary for them to do so in secret, but they were still frightened in case the long arms of the Inquisition might reach even here. So they locked the doors of their synagogue and prayed to G-d as never before.

Now the neighbours who had noticed many Spaniards gather in one place behind locked doors, with strange sounds coming from inside grew suspicious. They notified the Governor of the city of the secret meeting, where they were sure a plot was being made against the free country of Holland in order to recapture it for the King of Spain.

The Governor himself led a platoon of soldiers to Junkerstraat. He knocked at the locked doors “Open in the name of the Law”! The worshippers nearly died of fright. Somebody shouted, “the Inquisition is here ! and a terrible panic broke out among the frightened worshippers, who began to jump out of the windows to escape, but most of them were rounded up and captured. Only the venerable Jacob Tirado remained fearless to face the intruders. The soldiers searched the place for weapons , but found nothing but prayer books and talleitim.

“Who are you and what are you doing in this place so secretly?” the Governor demanded to know.
Still unable to speak Dutch, Don Tirado addressed the Governor in Latin. He told him who they were, how they had escaped from the terrible Inquisition, and would never wish to see it spread its ugly wings over this peaceful and free state. He told him further that it was the holiest day for the Jews, the Day of Atonement, and they had gathered to pray to G-d. But the fear of the Inquisition was so strong in their hearts that they still gathered to pray in secret. Don Tirado further told the Governor that they were useful and peaceful citizens, that they would not be a public charge, but rather the contrary, or for they had brought their wealth with them and were already developing trade and commerce for the good of the country. The Governor was greatly impressed by the words of Jacob Tirado.  He shook his hand, assured him that they were welcome, and more like them would be welcome in free Holland. “You may worship your G-d here in freedom, and without fear.  Pray also for us, “ he said as he took his leave with a friendly smile.

It was a great day for the young community of the Spanish Jews in Amsterdam. At last they were rid of their fear.  Soon they built a real synagogue, which bore the name “Beit Jacob” after their beloved leader, Jacob Tirado.  One of the first Rabbis of the growing community of Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Amsterdam was the famous Rabbi Manesseh ben Israel.

 

 

RCYC CAPE TOWN – JML 1

JML1 is being well used and once again entered th eprestigious Lipton Cup Regatta. The race was highly competitive with the best skippers in the country competing. . During the last of 5 races JML 1 made contact with the yacht Race Ahead’s stern at the finish line. Some brisk conversation ensued between the crews and JML 1 did the sporting thing and went back across the finish, did her penalty turns, and refinished in 14th place losing two positions. Interestingly when I approached Race Ahead to ascertain if there was any damage they indicated that they had not called a protest on JML 1. Regardless of this I was impressed by the sportsmanship of the team. Elsumo went on to finish a strong 8th which dropped JML 1 to 13th overall for the regatta. So a collective sigh of relief and accomplishment from the team and return of smiles when I assured them that the finish line incident had not affected their overall position. I now realise that this could have cost them the Youth trophy! What a fantastic surprise to win this award. We did not know that there is a clear formula that takes all ages of the crew, takes out the oldest, then compares this average with the regatta overall points, so the prize was a complete surprise! We must have scored the required lowest points per average age year.

 

FBYC SIMON'S TOWN – JML 2

JML 2 is based at False Bay Yacht Club and is used primarily for junior sail training, including the annual Lipton Cup Regatta.  She took part in Lipton 2010, with extensive practice and training prior to the event, completing two Cape Point roundings during the delivery to and from Cape Town, which gave a team of youngsters valuable experience, with Jonathan Cole as skipper/instructor.  She sailed the regatta with a youth team under the burgee of the Mossel Bay Boat and Yacht Club.  2011 sees a new strategy, whereby FBYC is in discussions with local school with the aim of making sailing a serious school sport and encouraging young men in high school to get a team selection process in place to sail JML 2 and another FBYC L26 in club races under the guidance of the FBYC Sailing School. 

Billy Leisegang
Manager  FBYC

 

 

HBYC HOUT BAY – JML 3

The Hout bay Yacht Club’s programme to send an emerging racing crew to the 2011 Lipton Cup in Mossel Bay got off to a flying start when four young sailors finished in a very creditable fourth position overall in the opening round of the club championships.  Making their debut in HBYC’s JML 3, an L26 Class , Martin Stander, Stuart Coleman, Seth Berrange and Aden Lacey provided a serious challenge for even seasoned sailors in the fleet.  HBYC has a fleet of 09’er class dinghies which are used to train novices from the community. Those who emerge from this basic training and are keen to progress to keelboat racing will be invited to sail the L26 class of which  there is only one at this stage. The programme for the L26’s will be to train hard in the next few months,  taking part in the club races with the winner going to represent HBYC at the Lipton Cup Challenge which will be held in Mossel Bay.

Jeremy Nel
HBYC

 

 

 JML Rotary Scout is a 39ft Tosca owned by the Scout Association of South Africa and moored in Simonstown. The boat was originally donated as a bare hull by the Rotary Club of Bellville in 1987 and was built up over a number of years by veteran Scoutmaster Neville Coxon, who launched the yacht in 1994. Then known as Rotary Scout she took part in the 2000 Cape to Rio race, crewed by teenagers. She has also taken part in three Governor’s Cup yacht races to St Helena Island.

The yacht fell into disrepair but was relaunched in January 2006 by an enthusiastic group of adult volunteers, mainly Dads and Moms of scouts. In three years well over 750 youngsters have gone sailing. The yacht is busy most weekends with only bad weather and maintenance preventing us from taking to sea. The yacht has been repainted, the engine repaired and safety equipment acquired – all with generous sponsorship from businesses and individuals. We were absolutely delighted when the Jewish Maritime League agreed to sponsor us and we renamed the yacht JML Rotary Scout for a period of five years from August 2007. To Alvin Kushner and the JML Committee, thank you – we are very grateful for your generosity. Thanks also to JML’s Russell Sher who has successfully coached three of our adult volunteers through the SAS Day Skipper’s exams, with two more volunteers to be tested soon.

Some of the sailing includes day trips around False Bay, visiting Seal Island or Cape Point - or overnight trips across the Bay with the youth sleeping at Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club and sailing back the next day. The Cape Windjammers NGO has used JML Rotary Scout for experiential training. The yacht has acted as a support vessel in the marathon Vista Nova School Freedom Swim from Robben Island to Blouberg Beach, and groups from Herzlia Primary School with Barbara Calothi have been day-sailing for a Sunday each month. A highlight was participating in a JML “Sailing Together” project with a group of Muslim Arab and Jewish Israeli youth around Cape Point to Hout Bay.

Last year JML Rotary Scout was part of the Volvo Ocean Race festivities in the V&A Waterfront. World Scouting is involved with Team Russia in tackling environmental awareness issues, with particular emphasis on whale and dolphin conservation. JML Rotary Scout was lucky enough to be allowed to moor at the Volvo Ocean Race jetty for a few days, attracting much attention from the public. Scouts came down to visit the yacht – and many of them are eager to sail when Scouts recommences in the New Year.  This year we plan to have another 250 children sail on the yacht. We also want to present a Competent Crew course for the Scouts

In December 2010, JML Rotary Scout took part in the Governor’s Cup Yacht Race, a 1700 nautical mile “downwind dash” to St Helena Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. On board were six youths between the ages of 14 and 19, with two adult co-skippers. We are very grateful to the Jewish Maritime League who, along with other co-sponsors, enabled us to undertake this trip-of-a-lifetime. We were delighted to welcome JML’s 18 year-old Ian Davis on board. . Ian brought considerable previous racing experience with him and was a popular watch captain.

On the first night out of Simonstown on the 1st of December we were met with gale force winds and heaving seas. Five of the 16 yachts in the fleet sustained damage and were forced to retire, although three of the yachts eventually re-joined the race. JML Rotary Scout weathered the storm magnificently and even though most of the crew were seasick, nobody missed a watch. Morale was high, characterised by lots of laughter and good-natured chirping! At one point we surfed down a wave at 20.2 knots!

When the wind settled down to a more manageable 15 to 20 knots we set our spinnaker and worked hard at keeping the yacht moving as quickly as possible. Of great assistance to us was Larry Davis, Ian’s dad, a former airline pilot and keen yacht racer, who gave us daily weather information by satellite telephone. This was allowed in terms of the race rules and all yachts could have used land-based weather watchers should they have wished. Larry kept us in the wind, and together with our fierce determination to succeed, enabled us to win the Cruising Class of the race and come 2nd overall on handicap. We were the 3rd yacht over the finish line!

It was a brilliant sailing experience and, on behalf of the South African Scout Association, we sincerely thank the Jewish Maritime League for their financial sponsorship of the scouts. We really value JML’s close association with the Rotary Scout sailing programme and we hope our mutually beneficial relationship will continue to grow and grow.

Sailing is a wonderful medium for teaching life skills, and JML’s sponsorship generosity is helping many children learn teamwork, develop leadership skills and explore ways of pushing the boundaries of their personal courage in a safe, nurturing environment.

Once again, many thanks to the Jewish Maritime League and we look forward to continuing our close association for many years to come.

 

	Meg Vandermerwe, our newest member of the JML Council getting to grips with sailing.	"JML Council Day on JML Rotary Scout Rabbi Richard Newman at the helm… keeping us all on course"
JML Rotary Scout at her mooring in St Helena Island

 

Dale, a budding Naval Architect who hails from Cape Town who  wrote about his post graduate studies in Gothenburg, Sweden in our previous Ha Yam. This year he continues his Masters in New Zealand. We look forward to him eventually joining the Council of the JML when he returns.

Auckland: the City of Sails, a fitting location to find one of the world’s leading units in yacht research. The YRU was established in 1987 due to a significant increase in interest in the field when the University of Auckland became involved in New Zealand’s first ever America’s Cup challenge that year. Since then they have been closely linked with many successful racing syndicates, not only in the AC but in the Volvo Ocean Race, Whitbread, Open 60 and many more. Most notably though was Team New Zealand’s challenge of the cup in ’95 and then their successful defence of it in 2000. This was largely thanks to the timely development of their Twisted Flow Wind Tunnel.

Any experienced skipper will know that the apparent wind angle, the angle of the wind that a moving yacht sees, varies along the height of the mast. The TFWT, the first of its kind, is able to replicate this on a stationary model using special vertical twisting vanes. This phenomenon is most noticeable while sailing downwind and at the time of NZ’s challenge sailing experts were only just beginning to understand exactly how downwind sails work. The TFWT was then Team NZ’s proverbial ‘ace up their sleeve’.

With all their prestige and commercial success, the YRU is still mainly dedicated to academic work, to understand the basic principles of what drives a yacht over the seas. They have many interesting research topics available for Master or PhD students, ranging from dynamic effects on sails to how the original wakas (Maori outrigger canoes thought to have been used to sail to New Zealand) functioned. Luckily for me they are always willing to accommodate international students who are interested in the world of sails. The level of expertise found at this unit is astounding and is an ideal place to study if you want a future in yacht, mast or sail design or if you are just curious about how these dream-inspiring vessels work.

I am currently working on my Master’s thesis Simultaneous Measurement of Pressure and Shape of Sails. Although pressure and shape have previously been successfully measured, they have not been combined before. Without going into too much detail this allows one to calculate the actual force generated by the sails in the direction of interest, i.e. forwards and also the force that heels the boat over. It is simply a case of multiplying the relevant area of the sail and the direction that it faces with the pressure difference between the two sides of the sail. Easier said than done. There is an obvious real world application here for top-flight racing syndicates. If they can see in real-time how the force is affected with each turn of the winch then they could be at a serious advantage. But where does one draw the line of introducing technology into sport? Well that is a whole other discussion.

 

 

The Plastiki, a catamaran made out of 12 500 recycled plastic bottles, sailed into Sydney Harbour on 26 July 2010, four months after leaving San Francisco on a journey across the Pacific Ocean meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste. The crew of the Plastiki, a 60 ft Catamaran that weathered fierce ocean storms during its 8 000 nautical miles at sea, left San Francisco on March 20 2010, stopping at various South Pacific island nations including Kiribati and Samoa. The Plastiki is a culmination of 4 years’ planning. Skippered by environmentalist David de Rothschild – a descendant of the well-known British banking family was finally towed to the Australian National Maritime Museum. “We hope that Sydneysiders will turn out in force to help celebrate the Plastiki’s arrival “ , De Rothschild said. The six member crew lived in a cabin of just 6x4.5m., took saltwater showers and survived on dehydrated and canned food, supplemented with the occasional vegetable from their small on-board garden. The boat is fully recyclable, and is powered in part by solar panels and windmills. The Plastiki’s name is a play on the 1947 Kon – Tiki raft sailed across the Pacific by explorer Thor Heyerdahl. The crew briefly stopped in Queensland state after battling a brutal storm off the Australian coast. De Rothschild said the idea for the journey came to him after he read a UN report that said pollution, particularly plastic waste, was seriously threatening the world’s oceans.

 

 

The South African Sail-training for Lifeskills Association (SASLA) is a collaboration of independent SA youth upliftment organisations who have a focussed commitment to the sea and sailing. The need for a central body of affiliated independent members has resulted in the formation of a collective organisation under the banner of SASLA.

SASLA is recognised by the International Sail Training Association as their South African representatives. The current SASLA board consists of. Rear Admiral Piet Potgieter (Ret), Patrick Fraser, Dr Antje Nahnsen, Dennis Stevenson, Alexander Allavena, Alvin Kushner (JML Representative), Luke Gregor (youth representative).

SASLA is presently involved in a campaign for acquiring a Tall Ship sailing under the South African flag and has set it as an aim to ensure that the campaign for a South African Tall Ship results in its use for life skills training voyages with youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. SASLA aims to be a national body that strengthens relationships and encourages cooperation/collaborations between existing sailing related, instructional and educational institutions, for children, youths, and adults in South Africa and to share resources such as crews and ships/yachts. SASLA therefore encourages and provides support for emerging non-profit sail training for life skills development initiatives. SASLA has been initiated and is supported by Sail Training International, who also have offered their support to SASLA and its member organizations in the future concerning the achievement of a Tall Ship for South Africa.

SASLA and its member organizations can also offer other local and international sail training opportunities, amongst them also crewing and crew training opportunities and youth leadership voyages. This is your opportunity to experience the magic of Tall Ship Sailing! Take it!

SASLA invites sail-training related institutions from across the country to come on board and to strengthen the campaign for a South African Tall Ship. For interested supporters and donors to the cause of SASLA, this association provides access to a network of like-minded collaborating institutions in the non-profit sail training sector as well as their partner organisations they are working with. These organizations range from public and private schools, civil society organizations in the field of HIV/AIDS, peace building and reconciliation, personal and career development including tertiary education in particular in the environmental and boat building sector.

As SASLA is an organisation that facilitates but does not acquire assets the acquisition of a tall ship for SA would be made by our joint founder member, Windjammers Education Trust which is registered accordingly.

The Sinking of Concordia

The JML Council members had entertained the crew and had visited to the Concordia and met the crew when they visited Cape Town.

Who could not have imagined that on a subsequent trip a few months later that the Concordia would be capsized during a dark night by a freak wave just 500 miles off the coast of Brazil. All 40 children and crew took to the life rafts within 2 minutes. The high standard of safety training at sea saved the lives of every member of the crew.

 

The SA Team who took part in the Class Afloat project aboard the Concordia.

 

I was astounded to hear that the Picton Castle was offering me a berth from Cape Town to Luderitz and hoped that I wasn’t too old to be chosen.

The crew is mostly young, athletic and extremely competent, so I was aware of my shortcomings. I was confirmed, and one of my life’s greatest wishes came true. Rear Admiral Piet Potgieter (Ret), Chairman of Cape Windjammers, was to join me. Alvin Kushner, the Chairman of JML and representing JML on the board of SASLA was also invited but was unable to get away from prior commitments.

From the moment we stepped aboard with our kit-bags, it was a journey of discovery, the well-read seafaring tomes we had immersed ourselves in were no match for the reality. The crew were preparing to and the ship was in a state of anticipation that was palpable. I could only try and find a spot where I wouldn’t get in the way and lend a hand where it seemed appropriate. I got my first taste of heaving a ship with my puny muscles tugging on a hawser – it was amazing when the dock started to move in front of my eyes. We left the dock by the Cape Grace with many waves and fond farewells; one in particular from a previous crewmember who kept pace with a tear streaked face and promises of never forgetting us.

After a brief stop for fuel, we were under way – the sails were set and we headed out past Robben Island for deeper waters. The motor was still running, charging the batteries, and when all was well and the motor switched off – the magic of true tallship sailing enveloped us. Words cannot express the emotions generated by the soft sway of the masts under full sail, completely in tune with the swish of the bow as it cleaved the gentle seas, a following sea and wind in complete agreement.

Piet and I were bunked in the main salon with a bevy of mixed crew around us and the professional crew forward. This ensured we were immediately “one-of-them” and the job of meeting and remembering 47 crewmembers names began. I started with the people on my watch , we had the 12 – 4 , only 12 names , which sounds little , but I had to start remembering the names of all the ships rigging lines as well. All commands aboard are given assuming the crew know the exact meaning, and as approx. 300 lines each have a specific name and a very specific task, with bad results when confused, the knowledge of which is which is critical. Most of my brain cells were consumed with this important task.

Our first safety procedure was a fire drill – and whilst Piet and I looked on, the alarm was sounded and the crew’s team-work proceeded like clockwork and the supposed “fire” was extinguished immediately. This is an integral part of the ships operations with regular training given. Nothing is accomplished aboard without safety being included. The next safety procedure occurred 2 days later when the “man-overboard” drill was accomplished with professional smooth and easy skill.

The Picton Castle has a classic mix of foresails, square rigged sails and gaff rigged mizzen, each style having different lines and actions, so we got an excellent grounding on what true sail training as all about. Combine that with the traditional hemp rigging used, which shrink in wet conditions and sag when dry, requiring continuous examination to determine correct tension, and the watch crew were kept pretty busy. Our night watch was a little quieter as the previous watch (the watch Piet was on) had already set the sails as required, and with very steady weather conditions, we weren’t too busy. The day watch was different in that “duties” were performed and all available crew reported to the Bosun to request the next item on the list. For me this included cleaning the heads, crew quarters and sanding wood for varnishing.

I was deemed good enough to take the helm and steer this (much larger than I am used to) ship under the eagle eye of Dave, my ever patient mentor. This was a much bigger challenge than I anticipated, with me making frantic course alterations and our bow swinging 30 deg. “the-other-way”. I came off that first 30 minute session thoroughly chastened and humbled – and vowed to do better. Of course I did and on my last watch at the helm was more a friend of the wheel than an adversary. When I shared my appalling actions with Piet, he said that he too had had some difficulties, but when I saw him, he looked so cool and calm, I suspect his navy training accepted 5 deg. off course to be “needs improvement” as opposed to my 35 deg.

The weather was absolutely perfect, and most of the time, all sails were set and with us making good speed. We had a little overcast on the 3rd day and some fog, but always enough wind to sail.

A surprising bonus of all this was the catching of fresh fish. We had 4 lines trailing astern and managed to fill the freezers with Tuna and Yellowtail as well as a sumptuous dinner of Sushi and the best tuna steaks I have ever had the following evening. The cook Donald and his able assistants created an unforgettable assortment for everybody and I was amazed when I saw that we even had left-overs.

The chores on a ship this size are never-ending and the crew is kept busy , we soon fell into the routines and it seemed on my 3rd day that I could do this for-ever, however, we were approaching land and our next port was close. The fog that is so much a part of the Namibian coast was just thick enough to keep us on our toes and as the car lights ashore were visible, we were careful with constant attention to the charts and course and extra lookouts.

Our entry to Luderitz the final morning was gentle with the fog lifting occasionally to give us tantalising glimpses of fishing boats, buoys, the shore, the pilot, and finally the harbour which was shining in full sunlight to greet us. We came alongside with the gentlest of bumps and the lines were made fast in a trice. From dock to dock we had the impression of being aboard a true sailing ship with the values of yester-year and the skills so largely forgotten in today’s modern world.

Unfortunately, I was not going to continue with the voyage, and left feeling that my life could only improve if I could also spend “two years before the mast”. I shall remember my Picton Castle experience with a complicated “sense of achievement” balanced with a “started too late in life” and a resolve to continue with Tallships in any capacity possible. I can only thank Captain Dan Moreland and his accomplished crew for making this possible.

In all my life’s travels, the camaraderie and sense of family that I found aboard was certainly the tightest and happiest I have ever encountered. If YOU have the opportunity to crew on a Tallship, I believe it is one of the truly great experiences available to young people today.

 

Rear Admiral Piet Potgieter (Ret) and Kris Steyn		Showing the ropes.

 

South African Jewry can well be proud of the Jewish Maritime League in Cape Town. The only organisation of its kind in the Diasporah. It has contributed greatly to the maritime progress of Israel and to development sailing
in Cape Town.

It came into being in 1938 and until recently it operated from the Jewish Maritime League Centre in Cape Town. Organised on non-partisan lines the membership of the League is open to all.

In 1966 the League established the Jewish Maritime League Fund to co-ordinate the operation of bursaries provided by private individuals. These bursaries operate in perpetuity as the capital is invested and only the interest is used. The purpose of the bursaries is to enable deserving Israeli and South African youths to pursue a nautical career in Israel. Since its establishment the Fund has assisted many lads through its bursaries.

Through its subscriptions and donations received , the League has been able to provide sorely needed equipment to the Nautical Schools in Israel.

It is interesting to note that the first vessel to initiate the newly established State of Israel’s fl eet was the trawler, “Drom Afrika” which was sent by the League to the Yishuv in 1947.

Recently in Cape Town the Jewish Maritime League has made a big contribution by providing 4 yachts for development sail-training.

 

 

Klaas the Captain of the Europa flanked by SASLA's Patrick Fraser and JML's Alvin Kushner.	Local children joined the ship in South Africa on an extended training cruise.
Mark Jennings of JML Rotary Scouts.