Regina Horowitz Margareten
The Horowitz Margareten Company, known by its familiar blue and yellow boxes of Matzos has been a household name in Jewish homes around the world for more than a century. Established in 1884 by a Hungarian family that had arrived the previous year from Miskolc (pronounced Mishkoltz) Hungary and settled in Manhattan, New York, it was eventually headed by the family matriarch, Regina Horowitz Margareten,
Regina who graced the pages of the New York Times several times, was designated by that paper, the “Matzah Queen” as well as the “Matriarch of the Kosher Food Industry.” A model of Tzedakah, she not only supported more than one hundred charity organizations but played an active role in many of them. In the 1940s and fifties, she would speak in both Yiddish and English on the radio when she would deliver an annual message to the Jewish community before each Pesach. She worked until two weeks before her death in 1959 at the age of 96.
Regina (Chana Rifkah or Rebush as she was known) Horowitz was the third child and second daughter born to Yaakov and Chaya Mirel (Brunner) Horowitz in Miskolc, Hungary on December 25th 1863. Regina’s father was named after his paternal grandfather, Yaakov HaLevi Horowitz who was a son of the famous Chassidic Rebbe and Tzadik, Rav Shmelke of Nikolsburg. The latter was a ben achar ben (a direct descendant) of Rabbi Isaiah ben Avrohom Halevi Horowitz, known as the Shlah after one of his major works Shnei Luchos Habris.
Regina’s father Jacob chose for her shidduch his great nephew Chaim (Ignatz) Margareten. Three years her senior, Chaim was a grandson of Jacob’s brother Ferenz (Nathan Zvi) Horowitz. Chaim’s parents were Julia Horowitz (Margareten) and Rabbi Yoel Margareten, a Rov in Dioszeg who was descended from a long line of rabbis. Chaim’s mother and Regina were double first cousins Their mothers Miriam and Chaya Mirel Brunner were sisters as well.
Chaim was born in 1860 in Tiszafuered, Hungary 55 miles south of Mishkolc. Chaim studied in the local yeshiva and became a private melamed of children of wealthy families.
Soon after their wedding in Hungary, when Regina was expecting her first child Yetta (Landau) the new couple immigrated to the Lower East Side together with Regina’s parents and her three brothers. Levi, Moshe and Shmuel. They had followed Regina’s brother Usher (Joseph) Horowitz who had earlier immigrated to the United States to avoid the Austrio- Hungarian army, where the family was concerned he would not be able to observe the mitzvos and his Yiddishket would be compromised. Usher had met a frum European girl by the name of Fannie Lichtman on the ship during his voyage to America. He was planning to wait to marry her until after his parents and siblings arrived in the U.S. His father Jacob, however, instructed him that if she were a G-d fearing girl from a nice religious home, he should not wait. “Marry her right away,” he recommended “and let her set up house so that by the time we arrive, we’ll have where to stay.”
The Tiszaeszlár Affair, the terrible blood libel which had recently set off anti-Semitic agitation in Hungary contributed to their decision to leave the country.
Regina’s older sister Julia who was already married with a family in Hungary tragically passed away in a fire before the Horowitz family immigrated to the U.S.
Regina attended night school in order to learn proper English and during the day helped in the grocery store the family opened at 94 Willet St on the Lower East Side. Her husband tried his hand at peddling and cigar making and helped her and his in-laws in the grocery store. The grocery store was soon overshadowed by their extremely successful Matzah business which eventually became their sole occupation.
Several months after the Horowitzes and Margaretens had arrived in December of 1883. they rented a bakery in order to bake hand Matzos. They used 50 bags of flour that first year and Regina lit the fires and worked the dough. Regina was quoted as relating to her grandchildren, that except for Shabbos, she never saw the light of day, she was so preoccupied with the business. She used to work through the night. She was very particular about the quality and taste of the Matzah. It was her idea to combine wheat from three different states in order to ensure a superior Matzah and it was at her initiative that the company later expanded into producing noodles and other products.
Sadly, Jacob Horowitz passed away on the second day of Passover in 1865, leaving the business in the hands of his wife, and children.
The company continued to grow with the family employing more and more Horowitz and Margareten family members as well as many other Jews who sought work. Regina expended much energy in the growth of the company wearing several hats: she served as the spokesperson for the Horowitz Brothers and Margareten company and made decisions regarding advertising and marketing. She also dealt with internal and external matters as well as with union representatives. She would be at her desk at 8;30 every morning and made sure to taste every batch of Matzos, Throughout the day, samples would be brought to her desk. Her husband Chaim with his keen business acumen directed his efforts to the financial aspects of the company.
In 1918, Regina’s mother passed away at the age of 89.
The success of the airplane during the 1920s facilitated Regina’s visits to her native Hungary almost every year. She would encourage family members in Hungary to immigrate to the U.S. where she would employ them or help them establish themselves.
In September of 1923, on Erev Yom Kippur while dressing to go to shul for Selichos, Chaim succumbed to a sudden heart attack. Just weeks earlier he had returned with his wife from a trip which had been his life’s dream. They had visited Palestine. They had also stopped off in Hungary where they had been blessed by every community they visited. The remaining weeks of the summer he had spent at their summer home in Hunter New York.
Two years earlier when the family was already living in Boro Park Brooklyn, Chaim (Ignatz), had established a special family organization. He believed it would be beneficial for the entire family to get together in order to bond with each other and work on a journal to inform family members of personal news of interest. The first meeting is described as having taken place on Rosh Chodesh Iyar where over 100 members of the Horowitz Margareten family gathered at his and Regina’s home. Delicious food was served to all and the establishment of a special Horowitz Margareten family magazine was undertaken. The first edition (1921) describes this original meeting. The magazine eventually evolved into a web site to which only family members have access to.
After Chaim’s death, Regina took over as treasurer and as one of the directors of the company. Eight years after the passing of her husband the business which now involved Regina’s two sons, Jacob and Frederick was grossing over a million dollars a year. The following year in 1932, the company used 45,000 barrels of flour.
In 1945 the city took over the location of the Matzoh factory for a housing project. It was Regina’s idea to have the Horowitz Brothers & Margareten company relocated to Long Island City where she purchased a large factory.
Regina also bought property in the Hunter Mountain area in Catskills, N.Y. and established Margareten Park. There each of her six children— Yetta Landau, Jacob, Carrie Unterberger, Frederick, Ella Weiss, and Sadie Wohl—- had a summer home. A great granddaughter, Phyllis Lee Gomperts Cheskin describes how Margareten Park was lined with tall maple trees, with the interior road sloping gently up to the top of a hill, from where her grandmother’s house had an unobstructed view of the mountain known as Colonel’s Chair. She recalls the European Orthodox Jewish flavor of a huge Shabbos with Zemiros and meals in which the entire extended family participated.
Even while vacationing in Margareten Park, Regina would call the firm daily to discuss the price of wheat and confer on how much to buy.
The United States was not the only country where she displayed her business acumen. On a visit to Hungary the year after her husband passed away she entered with a relative into a partnership in a coal mine in Edeleny Hungary. The mine provided jobs for local family members. Family traditions differ as to whether she flew the London-Paris leg of the journey in an airplane or zeppelin.
During World War II, Regina instructed her son Jacob to completed affidavits on behalf of many Jews and he succeeded in bringing hundreds and hundreds of his coreligionists to the United States.(See Sidebar)
The Horowitz Brothers and Margareten Company sponsored a special radio program. In a 1952 speech Regina delivered, she expressed gratitude to the United States for the “Freedom, prosperity and happiness we
have here which enabled us help our less fortunate brethren and participate in building the State of Israel”
She was an active philanthropist and instructed that anyone who came collecting alms at the Horowitz Brothers & Margareten company never leave empty handed. She helped support a number of synagogues and Jewish institutions. Included among her philanthropic endeavors was a Bes Medrash, called Beth Midrash Hagadol Anshe Hungaria, and a Talmud Torah she established called Ohel Torah. She was active in the Nashim Rachmaniot Society which helped needy women during their pregnancies and after childbirth. Regina also provided new clothing for poor students of the Talmud Torah for Passover under the auspices of the Malbish Arumim Society. Poor brides received generous assistance from her for their wedding dowries.
She was an active philanthropist and instructed that anyone who came collecting alms at the Horowitz Brothers & Margareten company never leave empty handed. She helped support a number of synagogues and Jewish institutions. Included among her philanthropic endeavors was a Bes Medrash, called Beth Midrash Hagadol Anshe Hungaria, and a Talmud Torah she established called Ohel Torah. She was active in the Nashim Rachmaniot Society which helped needy women during their pregnancies and after childbirth. Regina also provided new clothing for poor students of the Talmud Torah for Passover under the auspices of the Malbish Arumim Society. Poor brides received generous assistance from her for their wedding dowries.
All through the years she never ceased to work. Even when she reached age 95, she was still at her desk till 7:00 every evening during the few weeks before Passover.
The centennial of the company was celebrated in 1984, when the Horowitz Margareten company was described as the only matzoh and kosher food business with continuous family ownership spanning five generations. Mrs. Muriel Golovensky, a granddaughter of Regina served as the unofficial publicist of the family and appeared at the time on television to discuss her illustrious grandmother and the family’s history.
Regina was described as guided by the principles of hard work, fierce family loyalty, strong religious convictions and philanthropy. Today when we see the blue and yellow box standing on the store shelf exhibiting the famous Horowitz Margareten Matzos let us remember that behind every box lies the exceptional legacy of a remarkable woman.