Page 20 - TORCH Magazine - Issue #20

20
CUFI.ORG.UK
The Jewish roots of
There are two major brands of
ice cream that sit next to each other in supermarket freezers throughout the British Isles. You
are rarely going to find tubs of Ben & Jerry’s without similarly shaped tubs of Häagen-Dazs placed next to them. Whilst both have Jewish roots, the founders of these brands had very different world views regarding Israel.
Reuben Mattus was born in Poland to Jewish parents who emigrated to New York in 1921. His wife Rose, whose parents were also Polish Jews, was born in Manchester, England. Her family also emigrated to America in 1921. The two would eventually meet and marry, and go on to create Häagen-Dazs in 1959, which became a global brand of luxury ice cream.
Intriguingly, the name Häagen-Dazs has no meaning. It was made up by
the couple in their living room one evening because they thought it looked
and sounded Danish. This is despite
the umlaut above the first ‘a’ and the combined ‘zs’ being unheard of in the language. While it might seem odd, the reason for this name is quite special. Rueben wanted a Danish sounding name for his ice cream to honour Denmark for being the only country to save its Jewish population from the Nazis. There are incredible stories of how Danish Jews were saved by their fellow countrymen following the Nazi invasion of the country. Amazingly, 90% of Danish Jews survived the Holocaust.
In honour of Denmark’s actions, Häagen-Dazs was born. The original branding even featured a map of the country.
The couple started from humble beginnings, selling their ice cream on
the streets of New York where it gained popularity through word of mouth for
its taste and quality, and eventually opening their first store in Brooklyn, New York. Reuben was in charge of creating