Dr. Emanuel Bronner, the Natural Soap Maker
The finale of my presentation at TEDx Gull Lake 2017 was my song “Hold On,” about the eccentric soap-maker, Dr. Bronner.
Dr. Emanuel Bronner is the creator of Dr. Bronner’s magic soap, the natural soap that is a favorite among natural soap lovers.
Those of you who don’t think you know his soaps may have seen them. They are the bars and bottles of soap with labels covered with so much writing in such small print that you can’t believe anyone would have that much to say about soap.
And if you were to read those labels, you would learn they are not about soap at all, rather they share Dr. Bronner’s fundamental philosophy that we are all connected, or in his words, We Are All One.
Dr. Bronner came to the United States from Germany and starting preaching his ideas on streetcorners, for which he was committed to an insane asylum. He escaped and built a natural soap empire to spread his philosophy that we are all connected.
My song, “Hold On,” tells his story. Scroll down to listen to audio.
“Hold On” by Elisa Korenne
For Rabbi Doctor E.H. Bronner
Making soap was family honor
Till the Germans fought the Jews
Came to the States and got himself arrested
For preaching too loud that we’re all connected
They locked him in an asylum to change his views
Those officials said: you’re not like us
We don’t want to hear your preachin’
Don’t try to fight us
We’ve got the might of right behind us
(Deep inside himself he heard a voice say..)
Hold on
Though there’s nothing left within you
Except for that voice that says “hold on”
We’re all one
And you’ve got what you need within you
Hold on to the voice that says “hold on”
Electroshocks till his third escape
He gambled last twenty for a fare to LA
In Tinseltown he found his groove
Slept on the roof of the YMCA
Spent days fighting forest fires for pay
Nights mixing soap in his bathtub with a broom
(And he thought…)They won’t listen to my preachin’
I have so much to teach ‘em
How do I tell people what I know?
I could write it all down on soap…
(So he made labels for his soap, on which he wrote…)
Hold on
Though there’s nothing left within you
Except for that voice that says “hold on”
We’re all one
And you’ve got what you need within you
Hold on to the voice that says “hold on”
To disseminate his philosophy
He built a natural soap company
Capitalism the Bronner way
Leopard swimsuits at business meetings
Soap labels made good bathroom reading
Socially-responsible business with a spiritual say
A sample of Dr. Bronner’s Moral ABC from the Eucalyptus soap label:
Small minds decay! Average minds delay! Great minds teach All-One today!
Win victory, & all stand by you; give up? All deny you!
Each bottle hand-filled up to the top
Bronner employees all own stock
And put some profit to community good
His sons and grandsons are now in charge
And his Moral A B C is writ large
On the shelves of stores in every neighborhood
Now that everyone has Dr. Bronner’s soap in their neighborhood,
we all can learn how to:
Hold on
Though there’s nothing left within you
Except for that voice that says “hold on”
We’re all one
And you’ve got what you need within you
Hold on to the voice that says “hold on”
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