# Christopher Columbus was jewish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281 "2004-06-20T06:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/41 "2024-10-17T13:15:43Z")
What @Babale said. You are ritually required to save a life in preference to every other rule except, iirc, murdering innocents and committing rape. Certainly saving a life beats our following kashrut. Also: > [@DPRK](#): > > Actually being Jewish, or ethnically Jewish, is one thing, but having Jewish ancestors in one’s family tree in no wise makes someone ethnically Jewish, especially if one is a practicing Catholic in a Catholic environment. Yeah, just as Jews accept converts as members of the tribe, they also exclude people who actively leave the group by, for instance, becoming sincerely Christian. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/42 "2024-10-17T13:29:24Z")
The Italian American community really didn’t hold him up as a great hero - Columbus Day started in NYC when the Columbian Order ( better known as Tammany Hall and not a particularly Italian organization) held an event to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Columbus’ journey. The first national proclamation was in 1892 - the year after the murder of Italian-Americans in a jail in New Orleans caused some problems with Italy. Columbus seems to have been chosen for two reasons - 1892 was the 400th anniversary and the anniversary occurred before Election Day. Later celebrations seem to have be based on those two events , neither of which really involved Italian-Americans choosing who to honor. The reason certain Italian-Americans get up in arms about “Indigenous People’s Day” is less because Columbus is seen as a hero and more because in some places you have parades and events for Puerto Rican Day, Steuben Day, Pulaski Day, West Indian Day and so on and they feel like they are being left out if they don’t get a day and a parade. ( Although they don’t seem to quite recognize that the others are not generally legal holidays) And now that Columbus Day is the tradition, they’d object if someone tried to _change_ it to Da Vinci Day although wouldn’t have cared if DaVinci had gotten the holiday to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/43 "2024-10-17T13:39:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Columbus would have commonly eaten things like salted (cured) beef, cod and sardines. Salted pork was also a constant presence onboard. In fact, pork was something that Columbus and his peers brought to the New World. [5 Things Christopher Columbus Ate | HowStuffWorks](http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/5-things-christopher-columbus-ate.htm#:~:text=Garbanzo%20beans%20cooked%20with%20salt,for%20Columbus%20and%20his%20men.&text=Dried%20legumes%2C%20namely%20lentils%20and,had%20handy%20%2D%2D%20basically%2C%20salt). I’ve also heard rumors that Columbus enjoyed chorizo pizza, but that remains unconfirmed. So if you accept Columbus’ role as an Ambassador of Pork, that doesn’t exactly square with a Jewish heritage. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think it’s very unfortunate that when the Italians were looking for a national holiday, they got stuck with Columbus. So many more admirable Italians they could have picked. I, also, have suggested DaVinci. Or Garibaldi, a fellow [former Staten Islander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garibaldi-Meucci_Museum). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/44 "2024-10-17T14:02:19Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Or Garibaldi, a fellow [former Staten Islander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garibaldi-Meucci_Museum) Or Amerigo Vespucci who might have something to do with what we call ourselves and our country. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/45 "2024-10-17T14:35:27Z")
How about Verrazzano? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/46 "2024-10-17T14:37:33Z")
He got a bridge. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/47 "2024-10-17T16:10:51Z")
Narrowly… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/48 "2024-10-17T19:52:44Z")
This thread is starting to take a toll on me. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/49 "2024-10-17T23:42:49Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Actually being Jewish, or ethnically Jewish, is one thing, but having Jewish ancestors in one’s family tree in no wise makes someone ethnically Jewish, especially if one is a practicing Catholic in a Catholic environment. Your ethnicity doesn’t change because your diet or religion changes. If a Jewish person converts to Catholicism then yes, they’re Catholic, but they are still of Jewish descent and still ethnically Jewish. Ethnicity and religion are separate things even if in some instances various types tend to match up (like Muslim and Arab). > [@Babale](#): > > By the rules of Judaism, it would be a sin NOT to eat the unkosher food to save your life. It’s called Pikuach Nefesh and it’s basically a rule that says that you always save a life, overriding any other commandment, with a handful of exceptions. True. Then there is 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 glorifying people who chose to die rather than eat unclean meat. Personally, I thought that was nuts given that there is the out of “break the rule to save a life” but I suppose fanaticism is nothing new. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, just as Jews accept converts as members of the tribe, they also exclude people who actively leave the group by, for instance, becoming sincerely Christian. They’re no longer practicing Judaism and no longer Jews in a religious sense. That does not erase their Jewish ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/50 "2024-10-18T02:00:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > but they are still of Jewish descent and still ethnically Jewish. True, if you assume they were the descendent of somebody known to be Jewish. Otherwise there is no such thing. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/51 "2024-10-18T02:35:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > but they are still of Jewish descent and still ethnically Jewish. That’s not the common meaning of ethnic, ethnically, or ethnicity. Wikipedia: " An **ethnicity** or **ethnic group** is a group of [people] who [identify] with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups" Of course, individuals and groups may disagree on ethnicity: perhaps one group may define the ethnicity of matrilinealy Jewish Roman Catholics differently than the individuals involved do. But the word “ethnic” is widely used to mean something specifically different to “race”, “descent” or “nationality” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/52 "2024-10-18T08:22:53Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Wikipedia: " An **ethnicity** or **ethnic group** is a group of [people] who [identify] with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups" You failed to quote the next sentence: Wikipedia: " Those attributes can include a people of a common language, culture, **common sets of ancestry,** society, history, or social treatment." > [@Melbourne](#): > > Of course, individuals and groups may disagree on ethnicity: perhaps one group may define the ethnicity of matrilinealy Jewish Roman Catholics differently than the individuals involved do. Yes. Jews would consider such a person to be Jewish although obviously not observant. The first convert to Catholicism would be regarded as abandoning Judaism but her children would still have a valid claim to being Jewish. In Spain _conversos_, the Christian descendants of Jews who converted (willing or unwilling) were regarded differently than those without what was considered a taint, and some of them continued with Jewish traditions and practices in secret even if after a few generations their connection to Judaism was pretty fuzzy in many respects. “Ethnic” overlaps with race and descent, and sometimes even nationality, particularly in American usage Whether or not Christopher Columbus was Jewish, in any sense of the word, will probably never be entirely resolved absent the sudden discovery of something like a secret diary where he writes about his own view of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281/53 "2024-10-18T09:32:00Z")
Since the first part excludes people who do not identify with each other, I understand that the basis of inclusion is not relevant. On a slight tangent, it appears that some section of American society objects to non-Mormons being treated as ‘members of the group’ Mormon. I don’t expect consistency, but I do think that it is valuable to maintain a distinction between Sociological terms and Religious terms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-was-jewish/251281.md?page=2)