The First Optical Shop of Tel Aviv has Closed its Doors after 82 Years

Jehuda Grozovski opened his optical shop and workshop in Vilna (now the capital of Lithuania) in 1919.

In April 1925 he, his wife and daughter made aliyah to Palestine. He was the cousin of Jehuda Grozovski (Goor), the famous author of the second largest Hebrew dictionary and his namesake. Goor asked Jehuda to add "Leib" to his name in order to distinguish between the two of them in "Little Tel Aviv". Hence was born the name of the optical firm – J. L. Grozovski (later – & Sons).

Jehuda opened his shop in Jaffa on Bostrous Street (today Raziel Street) but soon moved, in September 1925, to the new building on 27 Nachlat Binyamin Street. The shop was in existence for 82 years. It was closed in December 2007 by his son, the optometrist Reuven Grozovski.

Jehuda's shop, his sons and his workers went through all the events that led to the birth of Israel. During the revolt against the British they supplied the underground of Etzel and Lehi with binoculars, communicating with them through slogans on the posters against the British which were pasted onto the walls of the houses of Tel Aviv at night.

The shop supplied glasses to all the celebrities of the time, before and after the establishment of Israel: Pinhas Rutenberg, the founder of electrical plants in Palestine, who had 16 pairs of glasses – one for every suit; Ben Gurion and his wife Paula; Yigal and Ruth Alon from Kibbutz Ginossar; Lova Eliav; President Chaim Herzog; - the top echelon of the Ministry of Defense and many more well known personalities. One could indeed make a list of all the Who's Who in Israel who were clients of J.L. Grozovski & Sons because of their professional reputation and service. Actors like Hana Rovina, Joshua Bertonov, Y. Goland, T. Robins, Zaharira Charifai, Miriam Zohar, Shlomo Bar-Shavit; Conductor Gary Bertini; authors/writers/poets - Uri Zvi Grinberg, Avigdor Hameiri, David Tidhar, Yosef bar Yosef, the poet Zeev, Moshe Shamir, Zerubavel Gilad; -politicians, public figures and more.

Jehuda Grozovski was also active in promoting optometry. He established the Association of Opticians in 1936 and was its first chairman. Under his leadership the Association helped to absorb refugee opticians, survivors of the Holocaust, and helped them to establish themselves in their profession. In 1950 he introduced a reduction of prices and the cost- of glasses to help the economy of the young Israel. Later on, his sons Reuven and Itzhak also became the chairmen of the Opticians Association.

After graduating from the School of Optometry in Koln, Germany, Reuven & Itzhak helped to introduce the "Optical Law" into Israel.

Itzhak established and ran the Israel College of Optometry for many years - later it became a faculty at Bar Ilan University.

Reuven also supplied original glasses for the theater, (from his father’s old stock from Russia) matching them to the period needed, such as for. Chekhov plays, Death of a Salesman, the Opera (Don Pasquale), and many more.

During the first Gulf War he made special glasses to fit under gas masks. He also fitted divers' masks with optical lenses for distant and close vision.

Itzhak has retired but is still involved in public voluntary work, teaching algebra to youngsters in public schools. Reuven, even after he closed the shop, still practices his beloved profession – optometry _on a part time basis. He says - that as long as they need him - he'll be there for his patients and clients.