Plucking the Eagle's Wings

America's Remarkable Prophetic History

In letters to his son Diego, Columbus put a mark in the upper left corner of the paper that resembles the Hebrew letters bet and hei. These letters denote the Hebrew blessing b'ezrat haShem, meaning with the help of God . The use of bet hei is a blessing that Jews often place in the upper left corner of a letter to a loved one. In Columbus' papers, this mark appears only in letters to Diego. In one letter to Diego that was also to be read by the king and queen, the mark was missing— implying that Christopher Columbus did not want the monarchs to see this potentially incriminating evidence regarding his Jewish heritage. During the last years of his life, Columbus worked to put his affairs in order. Unusual symbols began to appear in his writings that suggest he was familiar with Jewish mysticism. For example, he began to sign his name in a triangular fashion, asking that his descendants continue to use this signature. This strange signature is believed to be a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer. If Columbus was Jewish, the Spanish Inquisition would not allow his sons to say Kaddish for their father when he died. Thus Columbus supplied his sons with a signature that would serve that purpose. "Listen o isles to me and harken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:1,5,6) Columbus' idea of traveling west seems to have solidified in Columbus sometimes signed his name in a peculiar triangular form. Some think this may allude to his Jewish heritage.

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