El Greco 661 Lt. Gray

About Jerusalem Pencils Ltd.

Jerusalem Pencils Ltd. began as a partnership between two businessmen — Alex Rafaeli (an Israeli) and Sam Dubiner (a Canadian) — in the early 1950s. According to Alex’s widow, Esther: "The idea of a pencil factory came into existence after Alex met with Henry and Marion Hassenfeld, Americans who came to Israel in 1951 looking for an opportunity to invest and help the country. They had two sons, Merrill and Harold, who owned Hasboro Toys and Empire Pencils in the States. This led to the establishment of the pencil factory, which they thought should be in Jerusalem..." In 1952 the company filed a lawsuit against Linton Pencil Co., claiming it had exported thousands of pencils from the U.S. that were falsely identified as being made in Israel.