Yitzchak Carmeli, an Israeli journalist and Jewish Diaspora researcher who has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, told B’Chadrei Chareidim that of all of the tens of thousands of photos he photographed in the world, his favorite is the one of the Egyptian with a Magen Dovid tattoo on his hand.

The story behind the intriguing photograph remained a mystery for many years.

“It was on one of my first trips to Egypt, in one of the narrow alleys of Cairo behind a mosque,” Carmeli said. “I encountered him – an Arab in all respects – in his dress, his speech and his appearance, with a Magen Dovid tattoo on his hand.”

“I tried to ask him who tattooed the symbol on his hand but he wouldn’t answer me.”

“I returned to Israel with the photo and the questions. Over the years, I met Egyptian emigrants, researchers and historians but I didn’t find any answers.”

“Then I met R’ Yaakov Cohen, z’l, a known Yerushalmi Jew, a resident of Geulah who died less than a year ago. He was the owner of a publishing company and one of the founders of the Shas party in Jerusalem.”

“When R’ Yaakov saw the picture, he jumped up and told me what his mother had told him long ago. When she was living in Egypt, her neighbor – a Jewish girl – was forced, against her will, to marry her Muslim neighbor. When she gave birth to a son, she wanted him to know that he was a Jew so she tattooed his hand with a Magen Dovid!”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)