Was Columbus Jewish?
Howard Sachar, My Jewish Learning, 10/14/2019
There has been much speculation about the famous and controversial explorer's origins.
Cuba’s Jewish History, from Columbus to the Present
Staff, Mosaic, 08/23/2017
Yosef ben Levy Ha-Ivri was a Spanish Jew who converted to Catholicism in 1492, just before Ferdinand and Isabella’s decree banishing Jews from the country went into effect. Shortly thereafter—now using the name Luis de Torres—he joined Christopher Columbus on his voyage across the Atlantic; legend has it that Columbus thought de Torres’s knowledge of Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages might be helpful in communicating with the natives.