New market hopes Rockaway has a taste for kosher food

by Enid Weiss
NJJN Staff Writer

The most difficult part about opening a kosher market in Rockaway was convincing suppliers to deliver to northwest New Jersey, said Yahav Amrani, owner of Carmel Market.

“The main problem is we’re the farthest point from New York City, and we’re the farthest they’ve ever come,” he said. “Each supplier came up with demands ‘to make it worthwhile for me to come that far.’”

No one would mistake the fast-expanding suburbs of Morris County for the boondocks. Still, with few synagogues and other outward signs of what many believe is a growing Jewish population, it is up to Amrani to convince kosher suppliers — and consumers — that there is a need for a kosher market.

“There’s nothing around our area,” Amrani said. “We used to go to Brooklyn and other people we know went to Monsey,” the heavily Jewish New York town, for kosher groceries.

Carmel Market is set to officially open Sept. 10 at 350 Route 46 East in the Boro Plaza shopping center. Rabbi Asher Herson of Chabad Center of Northwest New Jersey in Rockaway will take part in a dedication ceremony, which will include Amrani’s friends, family members, and other supporters. A clown, a keyboardist, and others were due to perform at the grand opening.

Carmel Market will carry “fresh products,” including glatt kosher meats, Middle Eastern fare, and items from Israel. Many of the foods the market will sell are unavailable in Morris, Sussex, and Warren counties.

“We’ll have a lot of Israeli products, including sweets and bakery items,” Amrani said. “We’ll also have holiday specials, gift baskets, and fresh hallah for Shabbat. Even people who don’t keep kosher like Israeli snacks and sweets. I want to offer a large variety of dairy products — some imported and some local.”

In addition to the Chabad Center, Rockaway includes White Meadow Temple, a 55-year-old Conservative synagogue.

“Anecdotally there’s a sense that there’s more Jews and the Jewish population of Morris County overall is increasing,” said Arthur Sandman, associate executive vice president for program services at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, who added that there are no recent population statistics on the area. “It’s also becoming a greater part of the MetroWest community. In general we’re aware there’s been population growth in Morris County.”

While the UJC MetroWest raises funds among Jews in the area, “we’re looking at ways to move more areas of service to them,” Sandman said.

In May, Amrani and his wife, Jenny, left their day jobs at a local trucking company, hired a baby-sitter to care for their three children, ages six months to eight years, and began working on setting up the store.

Herson, whose Chabad-Lubavitch hasidic movement often promotes observant lifestyles in outlying suburbs, helped “get the word out” about the market, Amrani said. The rabbi was also scheduled to affix a mezuza to the store’s entranceway during the opening ceremony.

“We are excited about this significant development in our area. This will be a great asset and opportunity for our greater community” said Herson. “Many new developments have gone up in the last five years, and young families are moving in.”

Herson said the market will help reach “a two-fold goal.” “We want to see that people who do keep kosher have it easier. And we want to see people who don’t yet keep kosher but might do so if they had something like this store. A big part of our job is when people are ready and want to — they can [keep kosher or observe other mitzvot].”

Local supermarkets have made the effort to have kosher foods available, Herson said, but with a greater variety of kosher products to offer, “the focus is totally different with Carmel Market.”