In downtown Cairo, directly across from a restaurant named 'Eish wa-Malḥ — 'bread and salt' — stands Sha'ar HaShamayim Synagogue, literally the 'Gate of Heaven.' It's here that a small but determined group has been working to keep one of the Arab world's oldest Jewish communities visible, and an American cellist's account of her years playing there offers a rare window into that world.
The writer first attended Rosh Hashanah services at the synagogue in 2021 with the Drop of Milk Association, a Cairo NGO founded in 1921 that preserves Egyptian Jewish heritage and fosters interfaith dialogue. Egypt's Jewish community is now tiny, and there's no rabbi in Cairo — so attendees lead the prayers themselves. Even so, the shofar still sounds for the new year, and the group serves pastries from Simonds, a bakery dating to 1898, when Cairo's Jewish population was thriving.
She returned the following year with her cello, playing 'al-Dunya Ghinwa' (The World is a Song), sung by Egyptian Jewish star Leila Mourad in the 1949 film Ghazal al-Banāt. Events drew embassy officials, researchers and journalists alongside local members, led by Magda Haroun, the community's head. Over 2022 and 2023, she played at synagogues in Maadi and Heliopolis's al-Korba district, and joined celebrations including a Hanukkah singalong attended by jazz legend Yehya Khalil. The 2023 Rosh Hashanah at al-Korba was the first celebrated there in seventy years.
The story also touches on landmarks beyond the sanctuaries: the renovated Basatin Karaite Jewish Cemetery, reportedly the second oldest operational Jewish cemetery in the world, and a Holocaust Remembrance Day event where survivor Ruth Cohen addressed around 150 foreign dignitaries. Everything paused after the Gaza war began in late 2023, when Haroun decided public celebrations were inappropriate amid the regional situation — a reminder of how closely Jewish heritage in Egypt is tied to politics, and how often Judaism is conflated with Zionism despite anti-Zionist Jews like Haroun herself.
For travellers, this is a side of Cairo most itineraries miss. Egypt's Jewish story — musicians like Leila Mourad and composer Daoud Hosni shaped the golden age of Egyptian song — is woven into the city's fabric, and places like Sha'ar HaShamayim, the Basatin cemetery and the synagogues of Heliopolis and Maadi make it tangible. Heritage events with Drop of Milk have historically been open to visitors, journalists and researchers, so it's worth following such groups if you're planning a trip and want to attend a talk or visit a site respectfully. Even with celebrations currently paused, the connections persist — the writer still receives holiday greetings from Egyptians she met at the synagogue. As the Arabic expression goes, once bread and salt are shared, a bond is formed.
