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“I was born a Jew and a Jew I want to die.” ~ -Sol Hachuel Do you know the story of Sol? Sol Hachuel was a beautiful 17-year-old Jewish girl from Tangier, Morocco, who was executed in 1834 for refusing to convert to Islam. A rich Muslim man wanted Sol as his wife. When her family refused, he falsely accused Sol of being a Muslim convert who was trying to recant her conversion and return to Judaism - a crime punishable by death under Islamic law. Based on this false accusation, Sol was arrested and threatened with torture and execution if she did not convert. Sol was imprisoned in a windowless, lightless cell, with chains around her neck, hands and feet, where she was tortured in an attempt to force her to "confess" her conversion to Islam. "I will patiently bear the weight of your chains; I will hand over my limbs to be torn apart by wild beasts... but I will smile at your indignation and the anger of your prophet. Since neither he nor you were able to overcome a weak woman!" ~ Sol Hachuel Ultimately, Sol was sentenced by the Sultan to be beheaded in a public square in Fez. Shortly before she was murdered, the executioner offered her one last chance to convert. "Don't make me wait," she replied. "Behead me immediately - for dying as I did, innocent of any crime, the G‑d of Abraham will avenge my death!" The Jewish community was forced to pay for the recovery of her corpse, her head, and the blood-stained earth in order to give her the dignity of a proper Jewish burial. Her tombstone has inscriptions in Hebrew and French. "Here rests Mademoiselle Solica Hachuel, born in Tangier in 1817, refusing to adhere to the Islamic religion. The Arabs murdered her in 1834 while she was torn from her family. The whole world mourns this holy child." ~ Desiree Rugani @desireerugani