# רוקח



## Segulah

רוקח has been a surname in my family and is the name of the rebbes of Belz. Now I know this means pharmacist, chemist, druggist, apothecary, dispenser, pharmaceutist, corpsman in modern hebrew, but since the name is older i wonderd if there is an older meaning to the word. Anyone? Whats the story?


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## cfu507

Hi Segulah.
First of all, please write I and not i. I'm not a native speaker and it confuses me.

How do you pronounce the name? Roke'ach or Rokach?

Roke'ach means all the words you've written. I don't think that someone is called Roke'ach.
Rokach is a name and I don't know if there is any story behind this name.


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## eshcar

רוקח first appears in the bible, and there it always means 'one who mixes/concocts perfumes/incense". You can find it in the old testament in I Chronicles, 9:30 (there are other occurences, but here the meaning is clearest)


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## cfu507

eshcar said:


> רוקח first appears in the bible, and there it always means 'one who mixes/concocts perfumes/incense". You can find it in the old testament in I Chronicles, 9:30 (there are other occurences, but here the meaning is clearest)


 
But do you know Roke'ach as a name? not as a profession!


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## eshcar

it's both a name of a profession AND a family name - 
It was quite common for people to take a last name after their trade.
in all likelihood, Segulah's ancestors were pharmacists, and that's how they got their family name.
ובעברית - בנאי, צורף ועוד...


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## Segulah

Thank you for all the answers. Sorry for not capitalizing the I. Will never happen again. You so I believe its pronounced Rokeach, but it could probably be rokach too. Its a family name that got lost due to being on the maternal side of the family. I'm related to the Belzer rebbe of the same name. Does this mean that the family was pharmacists or incense makers? Interesting name. Not too many ashkenazic families took hebrew names.


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## cfu507

eshcar said:


> it's both a name of a profession AND a family name -
> It was quite common for people to take a last name after their trade.
> in all likelihood, Segulah's ancestors were pharmacists, and that's how they got their family name.
> ובעברית - בנאי, צורף ועוד...


 
I didn't know. Thanks


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## eshcar

Probably they were pharmacists - 
רוקח was used for incense makers only in the bible.
it appears in the sense "pharmacist" as early as 2nd-5th century AD (in the talmud), so unless you can trace your family tree way waaaay back, I'd go with pharmacist.


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## Segulah

Funny you mention it, I got my whole family tree all the way back to Rashi, with Maharal (Judah Lew ben Bezalel) and the Rama (Rabbi Moses Isserles). Its incredible. Maybe there is an pharmacist there on the way somewhere.


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## eshcar

wow!
that's impressive! you should definitly check it out
if you find anything out, please share with us


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