MELVILLE, New York — How did a Jew named Abraham Zacuto play a role in the saving of Christopher Columbus’s life?
A. During the Inquisition, Jews were rounded up throughout Spain and given the choice to convert or be killed. But many non-Jews were swept up in these efforts, as well. Columbus was imprisoned in Seville in 1491 where Zacuto, a rabbi, was the leader of the Jewish community. Zacuto was able to convince the Inquisition authorities that Columbus was not Jewish, at which point he was freed.
B. Zacuto was a financier and banker for the Vatican in the late 1400’s during the papacy of Pope Innocent VIII. Columbus, who had been a trader sailing around the Mediterranean, was imprisoned by the Berbers on the North African coast and was at risk of being put to death because of claims that he had cheated local merchants. Zacuto, who knew Columbus’s family in Genoa where he was born, arranged to make a payment to Columbus’s captors, who then expelled him to Spain, where he made his connection with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
C. Zacuto, an astronomer, prepared the astronomical charts which guided Columbus on his voyages. In 1502, Columbus and his crew were stranded off the Jamaican coast and in danger from the natives. Learning from the charts that a lunar eclipse was imminent, Columbus told the natives that if they did not cooperate with him, the moon would disappear from the sky. While they did not believe him at first, when the eclipse took place, the frightened natives relented and brought food to Columbus and his crew.
D. Zacuto was the doctor on Columbus’s second voyage to the New World in 1493. On the journey, Columbus took ill with dysentery, but he recovered with the help of herbs and potions provided by Zacuto.
E. Columbus and Zacuto were friends growing up in Genoa. Columbus attended Zacuto’s bar mitzvah, and at the party, Columbus suddenly choked on a meatball. Abie gave his friend Chris a whack on the back which popped the meatball out of his throat, saving Columbus from certain death and evoking a rousing “Mazel Tov” from the crowd. In appreciation, Columbus later named one of his ships after Zacuto’s mother, Penina.
