Published: 16 July 2018
Last updated: 5 March 2024
EGYPT ONCE BOASTED a lively and fairly open society in which Muslims co-existed with Italian and Greek Christians, as well as the ancient community of the Copts and Jews.
However, despite this, it was not publicly known that the Jamal twins, adored by King Farouk himself, were daughters of Jewish musicians Fishel and Jini Alpert.
Fishel, who was originally from Chernowitz (today Chernivtsi, Ukraine) arrived to Egypt in the 1920s and secured work in an orchestra, and Jini was an opera singer.
They sent their daughters to music and dance teachers from a young age and it was revealed the twins had an amazing talent for oriental dancing. Offers to perform in public soon followed, and, out of concern for her daughters, Jini decided to attend each concert they performed in – a decision she followed even years later when her young girls were adult women.
The twins re-named themselves Lelia and Lamia and practiced their routines, which were considered daring in the post-World War II years, for many hours. They became movie stars at home in Egypt but, after the military coup led by Nasser, moved to India and Singapore where their fame followed them.
FULL STORY The twin Jewish belly dancers who took Cairo, and the world, by storm (Jerusalem Post)
Photo: Jamal sisters, whose real names were Helena and Bertha Fishel (National Library of Israel)
