Columbus Back and Forth

Bereishit 8:

ו  וַיְהִי, מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם; וַיִּפְתַּח נֹחַ, אֶת-חַלּוֹן הַתֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.	6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.
ז  וַיְשַׁלַּח, אֶת-הָעֹרֵב; וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב, עַד-יְבֹשֶׁת הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ.	7 And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
ח  וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מֵאִתּוֹ--לִרְאוֹת הֲקַלּוּ הַמַּיִם, מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.	8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground.
ט  וְלֹא-מָצְאָה הַיּוֹנָה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף-רַגְלָהּ, וַתָּשָׁב אֵלָיו אֶל-הַתֵּבָה--כִּי-מַיִם, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ, וַיָּבֵא אֹתָהּ אֵלָיו אֶל-הַתֵּבָה.	9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth; and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.
י  וַיָּחֶל עוֹד, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים; וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מִן-הַתֵּבָה.	10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
יא  וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ; וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ, כִּי-קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ.	11 And the dove came in to him at eventide; and lo in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

One can possibly explain these verses as referring to our years in the Edomite exile - especially the last 530 or so years.

וַיְהִי, מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם

The Hurban occurred in 3828.  Columbus first discovered America in 5252.  There were therefore 1424 years from the Hurban until Columbus discovered America.  If we divide 1424/40, we get 35.6 - so 1 day = 35.6 years.  This is not significant in and of itself, but will be used in other calculations.

וַיִּפְתַּח נֹחַ, אֶת-חַלּוֹן הַתֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה

A window to the New World is opened.

וַיְשַׁלַּח, אֶת-הָעֹרֵב

Columbus is the raven.  The word for raven - ערב - also has a connotation of "mixture".  There are many theories of Columbus' Jewish origins where he remained outwardly Xtian.  He is therefore a mixture of Kodesh and Hol.  

וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב

And he went out to America and returned to Europe multiple times.  More on these words later.

עַד-יְבֹשֶׁת הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ

The word יְבֹשֶׁת can also be read יַבֶּשֶׁת - which means "continent" in Modern Hebrew. In other words, he went to and fro from Spain until he reached a new continent - which is formed via the drying up of water from the land.

מים also has a connotation of political instability and unrest, whereas ארץ represents stability. Some theories suggest that Columbus tried to find stability for Jews of the Iberian Peninsula who were being expelled at the same time as his first voyage.

As Rashi points out in verse 8, there was a period of 7 days between the sending away of the raven and the sending away of the dove. As we said earlier, a "day" is equal to 35.6 years. 7 days, therefore, equals 249.2 years. This takes us to the year 5501.

וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה

Columbus is also the dove.  In fact, Columbus in Latin means "dove".  Additionally, וישלח את היונה plus the words and kollel is the gematria of כריסטופר קולומבוס.  But this time, Columbus doesn't represent only himself.  Rather, as the father of all Jews coming to America, he represents all Jews coming to America.

מֵאִתּוֹ

This time, we're dealing with complete Jews, who are completely "from with Him" - from those who are with Hashem - both inwardly and outwardly.

לִרְאוֹת הֲקַלּוּ הַמַּיִם, מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה

These Jews came to America to see if the unstable situation of anti-Semitic Europe can be lightened up in America from their countries of origin.  And for the most part, it was.

The Plantation Act of 5500 (aka Haneitz HaHama of the 6th Millennium) allowed Jews to become naturalized in the colonies.  And since then, Jews have come to America in droves.  

But 199 years later, America had a dark day.

וְלֹא-מָצְאָה הַיּוֹנָה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף-רַגְלָהּ

In 5699, the MS St. Louis, loaded with Jewish passengers, attempted to dock on America's shores for some respite from the anti-Semitism of Europe, but was turned away.

וַתָּשָׁב אֵלָיו אֶל-הַתֵּבָה--כִּי-מַיִם, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ, וַיָּבֵא אֹתָהּ אֵלָיו אֶל-הַתֵּבָה

The ship was forced to turn around and go back to Europe because water - i.e. instability leading to anti-Semitism - covered the whole earth, including America.  The passengers were forced to be taken back by the Europeans, whose treatment of the Jews were on unstable ground, to say the least.  Many of them perished in the Holocaust.

וַיָּחֶל עוֹד, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים

Add another 7 "days", or 249.2 years, to the year 5501 and it takes us to the year 5750 (aka Hatzot of the 6th Millennium).

וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מִן-הַתֵּבָה

The Russian Jews were sent out from Russia at that time.  Right before Rosh Hashana 5750, a large group of Russians came to America - the largest ever.  

וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ

But as Haaretz points out, Israel was having none of that:

Shamir pressured the U.S. State Department to do away with "the 'refugee' clause that granted refugee status in the United States to the Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union." He also termed that emigration policy "an insult to Israel": "From October 1989, every Soviet exit visa received by a Jew who sought to emigrate was valid for departure only to Israel."

Columbus, therefore, in his broader sense, was diverted away from America toward Israel.  As the Ramban points out based on one interpretation of the Midrash, the olive branch came from Israel (Har Hazeitim), which was not affected by the flood.  And this occurred when?  לעת ערב - starting at Hatzot of the 6th Millennium when it was the beginning of the afternoon (בין הערבים).

A second interpretation:

We've always interpreted לעת ערב to mean Minha Gedola of the sixth Millennium (see here, for example) since that is when the shades of evening start to grow and the shadows of trees and buildings appear in the east.  That was in 5771.  The gematria of לעת ערב equals 772, but if you add the words and letters, it equals 780.  So we are within the decade close to Minha Gedola and within the timeframe of לעת ערב.

The dove ate the olive branch which is very bitter, as Rashi points out.  This is similar to drinking the dregs of the כוס התרעלה in Yeshaya 51:17.  This symbolizes the punishment of Galut taking its course  (see the Radak there).  We know this since in the past few weeks, Columbus statues have been coming down all over America due to his supposed  "racism, bigotry, and oppression" of people of non-European descent.

Now, we said earlier that Columbus was also the raven, of whom it says:  וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב - he went to and fro.  The gematria of this phrase is 528, which is the number of years from Columbus' first expedition until today.

Maybe it's a sign that we Jews should be returning to the Eastern Hemisphere from America.  Not necessarily returning to our countries of origin, but to the Land of Israel.

וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ, כִּי-קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ

Note that as opposed to verse 8, which refers to the lightening of the waters from the  פני האדמה, which talks about the entire earth, this verse refers to הארץ - the land.  This refers to the Land of Israel.  The instability around the world has found an oasis in Israel.

The Zohar says that the olive branch refers to Mashiah ben David.

May he come mercifully very soon.