ChaiWear

Preserving cultural heritages is a good thing. Don’t know if boutique fashion will prove an venue of enduring value.

According to the ChaiWear Web site, Rauchwerger launched the company to give Jewish children an opportunity to have pride in their heritage and to honor Yiddish. “It’s such a beautiful and expressive language,” she said.

In 2003, three sisters in Los Angeles with a similar affinity for Yiddish founded Rabbi’s Daughters, a line of designer T-shirts featuring words such as “Mini-Mensch,” Bubeleh, and Shiksa, and worn by celebrities ranging from Madonna to Katie Couric.

The sisters were attracted to Yiddish T-shirts for the memories of their parents and grandparents. “Our mom speaks Yiddish fluently and our parents were always singing Yiddish tunes so it takes us back and fills us with good memories,” says youngest sister Daniella Zax.

Luckily, she said, hip L.A. boutiques were “intrigued” by the name of the line, and the national press they received was kind, leading to orders coming from as far away as South Africa.

Young mothers find Old World words to soothe their children.