A most unusual whisky advert

A most unusual whisky advert

Ralph Katzenell

            Recently I came across an unusual advert for whisky. The advert was produced in Morocco in the 1950s and was intended to influence the Jewish population there to purchase Lauder's Scotch Whisky.

            Lauder's was originally founded in 1886 by Archibald Lauder and successfully marketed a number of blends. Lauder also had a number of pubs, one of them is said to have had a working still in the window. Another of his pubs, a popular watering hole in Sauchihall Street, Glasgow, still trades under the name Lauder's. The current owners and journalists alike seem confused by the name, and assume that the pub is named after Sir Harry Lauder, of 'knobbly stick and knobbly knees' music hall fame - a false impression encouraged by the presence of the Pavillion Theatre (the old music hall, still putting on shows) not 100 yards away on Renfield Street.

            The advert (high-resolution scans are available from the editor) contains text in four languages: modern Hebrew, classical medieval Hebrew, French and Judeo-Arabic (Arabic spoken by Jews and written in Hebrew characters). The primary text essentially consists of what are called 'Piyutim'. These are religious liturgical chants or poems, including one called "Akedat Yitzhak" (The Binding of Isaac) and "Yigdal Elohim Hai" (Magnify the living G-d), on the 13 principles of the Jewish faith.

            The poem "Akedat Yitzhak" was written by Rabbi Yehuda Ben Shmuel Ben Abbas from Morocco, in the 12^th century. Rabbi Yehuda was a great scholar and a great Hebrew poet. He had a son, who was accounted a 'Gaon', a genius in mathematics. At the time, there were troubles for the Jews in Morocco, and Rabbi Yehuda and his son left, travelling eastwards, eventually reaching what is now called Iraq. There, the son converted to Islam. This was seen by his father as equivalent to the Binding and intended Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. Rabbi Yehuda, in his distress, wrote this poem that conveys very deep emotion in a most powerful manner. The language used is classical medieval Hebrew. The poem is in 13 stanzas (as numbered), and a closing 14^th stanza (not numbered).

            Recitation of the poem "Akedat Yitzhak" spread throughout Sephardic Jewry and was also adopted by some Ashkenazic communities. The poem is recited at the prayers of Rosh Hashana (New Year) before the sounding of the Shofar (the Jewish trumpet) and on Yom Kippur at the prayer of Minha. The poem appears in the Siddur (prayer book) of Rosh Hashana but interestingly enough not in that of Yom Kippur. This is because the recitation on Yom Kippur was not adopted by all communities, only those in specific congregations. Thus in order to have the correct text to hand if needed, one would have to bring both prayer books on Yom Kippur, a matter of some inconvenience.

            In time, the ability to understand poetic classical medieval Hebrew was lost to the general public, even although the tradition of recitation was unbroken. Therefore, text accompanied by a translation into the vernacular was common. Originally, these sheets were provided with translation into Judeo-Arabic. As French influence grew in modern times, it became the usual language of the Moroccan Jewish community. Thus the 'Piyutim' were printed with translation into French.

            If you look at the layout, you will see that his could leave a fair amount of 'white space'. To fill in this white space, and extend the useful life of the advert, a second major liturgical work was included, shown to the left of the main graphic. The second poem "Yigdal" is recited in Sephardic communities at the end of the prayer "Arvit" on Friday evenings (the first prayer of Sabbat) and of the Jewish Festivals.

            Although these 'Piyutim' are well known as associated with the most holy of Jewish festivals, it became practice in modern times to use them as a medium for advertising. Not only purveyors of whisky, but all manner of consumables, including soft drinks, would be advertised on such sheets. They were distributed particularly in time for Yom Kippur, and would be read from New Year on, in an atmosphere very highly charged with emotion. One can imagine that the near-subliminal impact would be quite powerful!

            The Jewish community of Casablanca numbered more than 70,000 before its dispersal in the 50s and 60s. Quite a large market. Not to mention other numerically important communities in Tangier, Marakesh, Tetuan, Fez and the Atlas mountains. Even in the early days of the 19^th century, larger coastal towns of Morocco, such as Tangiers and Mogador, had substantial Jewis communities; drinking whisky and other strong liquors was popular at births, Bar Mitzva's and weddings. These communities had strong ties with Europe, particularly with England and France, via Gibraltar, and were influenced in their consumer habits by that contact.

            The Lauder agent in Casablanca, Mr Avner Bouzaglo (French) or Abuzaglo (Hebrew) was well known as an importer of spirits to the Jewish community. He was born in Mogador, and died in Montreal a few years ago, aged about 90. He also published a similar advert for "Royale Diamante" whisky, clearly another of Lauder's brands called "Royal Diamond".

            Needless to say, the current blend is not claimed kosher by anyone, much less Kosher l'Mehadrin! But in those times there was little sophistication in Kashrut supervision of whisky, and inspection of the advert shows that for the Moroccon Jews of the 1950s no specific rabbinical body was felt needed to back the claim of 'Kosher l'Mehadrin'.

            As a piquant aside, very similar documents were distributed in Israel during the 60s and 70s, only advertising this or that political party! In fact, even today similar practices can still be found in some development towns.

With thanks to Prof. Yosef Chetrit, Deputy Deakan of Haifa University and Professor of Sephardic Studies - and a superb creative cook in the traditional Moroccan manner, and to Iain Russell, whisky researcher extraordinaire.

© 2002 Ralph Katzenell