OUR STORY

Bakar Meats is more than just a kosher meat company or a brand. It’s about family, hard work and Halacha (Jewish law and traditions). It’s about offering a quality product to our customers and keeping traditions the way that they were done in the times of our grandparents and parents.

 

Rabbi Jonathan Benzaquen. I grew up in a family whose rabbinic lineage dates back in history. My paternal grandfather, Rabbi Jacob Benzaquen z”tl was a rabbinic figure in Spanish Morocco, a Mohel and a very learned businessman.

My father, Dayan Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, who aside from being a Dayan, Sofer, Mohel, Hazan and Shochet, used to take me at a young age, with him to the slaughterhouse, both in England and in Venezuela, where he provided the only source of kosher meat in the city. So I guess you could say I was also pasture raised.

I currently am a Rabbi, Mohel, and a Menaquer (learned in the laws of removing the sciatic nerve and forbidden fats). I enjoy interacting with people and most of all giving others a perspective on Judaism that they don't often hear, one that is direct, to the point and based on Halacha (Jewish Law).  

I love being creative and working with my hands. My passions include woodworking and leather-working.

Esther Benzaquen. I'm a wife, mother of four incredible boys and co-owner of Bakar Kosher Meats. I graduated UCLA with a business economics degree and I run the human resources, accounting, purchase orders and general management of Bakar Meats. I help Bakar Meats interface with the world of social media, and my favorite responsibility is my interaction with all our customers and fan base.

Growing up I was always fascinated by how world events, geopolitics, and people affect global markets and industry. Meat being one of the original commodities (the stock market), throws me right into the exact global qualities that have always attracted me to business. 

In a way, Bakar Meats has molded us, rather than the other way round. We started Bakar to give something unique to the Kosher consumer, but in the end, Bakar Meats has given us a cause to identify with and a strong perspective of the Jewish world in which we live. As the years go by, we grow more and more passionate about Bakar Meats because it's all so much more than an amazing culinary experience. It's authentic and it's a Jewish way of life.