By Jerry Brodsky
What got you through the Covid-19 pandemic? What product did you purchase so much more during Covid than you’d ever purchased before, besides masks?
That’s right – hand sanitizer. And what’s one of the best-known brands? Purell!
So here’s the story: In 1946, Jewish-Americans Goldie and Jerry Lippman founded a little company they called GOJO Industries in Akron, Ohio, where they developed and manufactured their product – a hand sanitizer, now with a common household and industrial name – Purell.
Today, GOJO, now owned by The Clorox Company, continues to manufacture and distribute Purell, the much sought-after hand sanitizer whose brand has become the generic name for hand sanitizers (much like Jello and Kleenex for flavored gelatin and tissues).
Thank you, Goldie and Jerry Lippman, for giving us that container of germ-killing gel we use after we touch the elevator button, the door handles and the playground or exercise equipment! And thank you for helping to save countless lives, or at least reassure us all that we were safe.
Sources:
Akron (OH) Jewish News (May, 2026)
Jerry Brodsky is a HaD’Var contributor, and former chair of FJMC’s Inclusion Initiative.
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