(Unless otherwise indicated all quotes are from “History of Brooklyn Jewry” by Samuel P. Abelow, Scheba Publishing Company, Brooklyn, 1937.)
Most kosher consumers are familiar with the Rokeach brand of kosher foods. What they may not realize, however, is that this brand has been around since 1890, when Israel Rokeach came to America and founded a kosher soap factory. This small soap enterprise eventually grew into a large company known throughout the world as I. Rokeach and Sons.
The company at one time marketed a large array of kosher food products. In 2006 R.A.B. Food Group, which had earlier purchased Manischewitz, bought substantially all the assets and assumed certain specified liabilities of the privately held Rokeach. The Rokeach brands include, among others, Rokeach and Mishpacha. Manischewitz continues to market a variety of products under the Rokeach and Mishpacha labels.
[Israel] “Rokeach was born August 1, 1841, in Wilkowishk, Russia. His father was Rabbi A. L. Rokeach, a great scholar and direct descendant of Rabbi Eliezar Rokeach, chief rabbi of Holland, who was a descendant of Rabbi Eliezer of Garmeiza, one of the noted commentators of the Talmud. Israel’s mother was Miriam Rokeach (nee Ritefsky). Young Rokeach received a splendid Jewish training. In addition to studying with eminent rabbis, he also studied with his own father, and then with Rabbi Zusche Wasserzug, the rabbi of Werbelov. Rokeach’s wife, Hannah Breindel Cohen, was the daughter of Reb. Aaron Cohen, who claimed descent from Reb Saul Wahl, the ‘King Over Night,’ a legendary figure famous in Jewish history in Poland.[i]
“As a young man, Rokeach went to Kovno, the capital of what is now Lithuania, where he established a factory for the manufacture of perfume and soap. There he won the friendship of the finest Jewish families and was held in high esteem by the Kovner gaon, Reb. Isaac Elchanan. In Kovno, he devised his first two inventions – the manufacture of kosher soap and a method of imprinting the word kosher to penetrate through each cake of soap. The historical ‘hechsher’ on this soap by Rabbi Isaac Elchanan was also a high tribute to Israel Rokeach himself.”
Shortly after arriving in America in 1890, Israel Rokeach founded a factory for the manufacture of kosher soap in New York. This small soap enterprise, in the course of over forty years, grew into a large company known throughout the world as I. Rokeach and Sons. It manufactured and marketed a variety of kosher products. On December 29, 1929, the company opened a new million-dollar building featuring the latest improvements in the manufacture of soap and for the protection of the health of the workers. The factory was located on Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn.
Practically to his last days the patriarchal founder was at his office almost daily and took an active interest in all matters connected with the business. However, in addition to his business endeavors Rokeach devoted much of his time and energy in helping to organize the early Jewish communal institutions located on the Lower East Side. In fact, most of his time was spent receiving rabbis, communal workers and representatives of institutions who called on him for charitable missions.
The name of Israel Rokeach became inscribed in the hearts of Jews throughout the world, because of his generous contributions to charity and deep interest in all matters concerning Judaism. He was very involved with the Mizrachi Organization and also had a special building fund that supported the efforts to establish Jewish settlements in Palestine. Eventually this fund led to the establishment of three communities in Eretz Yisrael – Givat Rokeach, Kfar Marmareck and Mokor Chaim. Furthermore, over the years Rokeach contributed $50,000 to the Jewish National Fund, a huge sum in those days.