Tell Me Why

The Cuban Connection

The Jewish interpreter who traveled with Columbus.

Elizabeth and Phillip Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

With
Cuba so
much in the
news lately, I
wonder how
deep are the - 2
Jewish roots
there?
A: A Jewish
presence in
Cuba can be
traced to the
very day that Europeans set foot on
the island.
In the course of his first voyage,
Christopher Columbus landed on the
beaches of Cuba on Oct. 27,
11492. Believing he had sailed
:across the ocean to Asia, Columbus
I sent two crew members into the interi-
1 or to find the "Khan of Cathay"
(China). The men who embarked on
the mission were Rodrigo de Jerez
land Luis de Torres.
Torres was the only Jew who sailed
I with Columbus (although some
I sources believe that as many as six
I traveled on the first voyage). Engaged
by Columbus to serve as his inter-
: preter, Torres was fluent in Spanish,
I Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Aroma-
: .
lc, French and Latin. Previously, he
served as Hebrew interpreter to Juan
I Chacon, governor of the Spanish
province of Murcia. Because Colum-
1 bus was certain his voyage would
take him to Asia, he wanted a man
like Torres, who could communicate in
I Asian languages.
Because Columbus, under the
;patronage of the antisemitic king and
queen of Spain, would sail only with
I Catholics, he arranged for Torres to
I be baptized on Aug. 2, 1492.
Columbus' fleet sailed the next day, a
fortuitous date, for on Aug. 3, Ferdi-
nand and Isabella signed the order
I expelling all professing Jews from

I

ZA

7/28
2000

66

Left: Columbus plan-
ning the discovery
of America by Sir
David Withie.

Spain. It also was
Tisha b'Av.
Torres and Jerez
reported back to
Columbus that although they did not
find the Khan of Cathay, they had dis-
covered the indigenous people of the
land. The natives engaged in a curl-
1 ous habit: they wrapped dried, fro-
: grant leaves in a corn husk or palm,
lit one end and "drank" the smoke
through the other end, blowing it out
through their mouths in "clouds." Tor-
. res, along with Jerez, thus were the
1 first Europeans to observe and
I describe smoking.
Torres subsequently settled in Cuba.
He was the first — and for a time —
the only, white resident of the island.
1 He found the native Ciboney and
Taino people friendly and soon
I gained the favor of the Taino king,
1 who gave him land and slaves.
Torres' status as an independent
ruler of Spanish territory later-was rec-
ognized by the Spanish monarchy,
which granted him an: annual
I
-
I allowance. Torres spent the rest of his
life in Cuba. It is likely that he took a
1 wife or wives from the native popula-
tion and had children.
There very . well may be Cubans
1 today who are descended from Luis
I de Torres. Although largely unknown
I by Jews, Torres is remembered daily
by the small Jewish community in the
1 Bahamas. Fifteen days before arriving
in Cuba, Torres set foot on San Sal-
1 vador, one of the 700 islands that
comprise the Bahamas. That event is

veterans of the American army
who fought sin Cuba in the Span-
ish American War remained on
the island. The second wave of
Right: The entrance Jewish migration to Cuba, from
central and eastern Europe, fol-
to a synagogue in
lowed World War I — especial-
today's Cuba.
ly after the United States imposed
restrictions on immigration. With
the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933,
commemorated by the Luis De Torres
many European Jews sought refuge in
1 Synagogue on East Sunrise Highway
Cuba, but the island's government
in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island.
introduced tough immigration laws
Housed in a white stucco building,
that made it almost impossible to
the synagogue has a resident mem-
establish permanent residence.
1 bership of about 20, and about 30
After the 1959 Communist revo-
1 offshore members. It belongs to the
lution, most of Cuba's 12,000
I Union of American Hebrew Congre-
Jews fled. Since then, a slow
gations (Reform).
stream of Jews has left the island
Luis de Torres is not associated with 1
for Israel. A tiny Jewish community
I Torres Strait, a channel between north-
1 remains in Cuba.
ern Australia and southern New
1 Guinea. That is named for Luis Vaez
Q: Recently, a buddy of
1 de Torres, a Spanish navigator who
mine said that I.W. Harper,
1 sailed through the strait in 1606.
the bourbon brand, was
In 1511-12, the Spanish conquered
started by Jews. I've never
I Cuba and subsequently exterminated 1 heard of any Jews named
the indigenous population. Along with
Harper! Could my friend
Catholic Spaniards, a number of
be right?
I seemingly converted CryptoJews (pre- 1
A: Your friend is right, though Harp-
ferred to the contemptuous name Mar-
er was not the name of the founder.
ranos — meaning, "swine") settled in
I.W. Harper was started by Isaac
Cuba, many of whom became very
W. Bernheim, a German-Jewish immi-
I wealthy. The long arm of the Inquisi-
grant who came to the United States
tion reached the Caribbean and it
in 1848. He settled in Paducah,
I discovered some of these secret Jews,
Ken., with his two uncles, who
whom it executed. The others blended
owned a wholesale liquor business.
in with the -Catholic Spaniards and
Bernheim later brought over his broth-
disappeared; many Cubans no doubt
er from Germany, and the two decid-
1 have this Jewish ancestry in them.
ed to go into business on their own.
Spain did not permit Jews to live in 1 They hired a salesman named Harper
Cuba until. 1881, at which time a
who was very popular; customers
slow immigration of Sephardic Jews
began calling the company's best
from Turkey and Morocco began.
whiskey "Mr. Harper's." In 1872, the
1 After 1898, when Cuba gained inde-
Bernheims officially named their com-
pendence from Spain, it granted Jews
pany "I.W. Harper" — Harper for the
1 the right to hold public religious wor-
salesman, of course, plus the first two
ship outside of homes, and the first
initials of Isaac's name. ❑
1 synagogues were built. A few Jewish