The perfect shot came in the midst of chareidi protests against the construction of the northern segment of Israel’s Highway 6 — protests triggered by the discovery of ancient gravesites that lay in the planned roadbed. On that fateful day a lone chareidi bochur faced down a rumbling bulldozer — and won. Veteran Israeli news photographer Gil Cohen Magen’s camera was ready and he froze the moment in time. As he recounts in his book Hassidic Courts:

This chareidi bochur had gone out on a suicide mission for the sake of his tremendous faith and he was saved in the end by a miracle. And not only was he rescued but he succeeded in stopping the bulldozer. It brought to mind the unforgettable image from Tanach of the battle between David and Goliath. The bulldozer a great irresistible iron monster brought to heel by the simple faith of a young bochur.

Did Cohen-Magen know that he was going to capture an image that would travel around the world almost instantly? “I have to say that in this case I had bitachon that I would get something because the chareidim were involved.”