Savoring Yiddish
Young mothers find Old World uwords to soothe their children.
itage and to honor Yiddish. "It's such a beauti-
've always resembled my grandmother,
ful and expressive language," she said.
from the curly hair to the strong chin to
T-shirts are $12.
the.ample bosom. But I never thought it
In 2003, three sisters in Los Angeles with a
possible that I would actually turn into her, a
similar
affinity for Yiddish founded Rabbi's
generation early, once I became a mother.
Daughters, a line of designer T-shirts featuring
How could it be? Our world experiences were
words such as "Mini-Mensch," Bubeleh, and
worlds apart. She was born in Poland, survived
Shiksa, and worn by celebrities ranging from
the Holocaust, immigrated to
Madonna
to Katie Couric.
South America after the war
sisters
were attracted to Yiddish T-shirts
The
and raised a family in La Paz,
for
the
memories
of their parents and grand-
Bolivia. I was born and raised
parents.
"Our
mom
speaks Yiddish fluently and
in suburban Detroit, wanted
our parents were always singing Yiddish tunes
for nothing and never experi-
so it takes us back and fills us with good mem-
enced. anti-Semitism.
ories," says youngest sister Daniella Zax.
Then I had a baby. And
Luckily, she said, hip L.A. boutiques were
the Yiddish and Old World
"intrigued"
by the name of the line, and the
GABRIELLA remedies for calming fussy
national
press
they received was kind, leading
BURMAN
babies began to pour out of
Nancy
and
Nate
Kleinfeldt
of
Oak
Pal*
with
sons
Adin,
3,
and
to
orders
coming
from as far away as South
Special to the
me. Michaelis thighs were
Caleb,
8
months
Africa.
pulkes,
Jewish News
henceforth known as
The sisters' father, Rabbi Jerry Cutler, is the
her cheeks beckalech, and a
spiritual leader of the Creative Arts Temple in
spoonful of chamomile tea was just the thing to
Los Angeles and owns a small library of
settle her stomach. Her nickname wasn't Mia, it
Yiddish
books. Although initially skeptical of
was Mama Shayna, Ziskeit and Shayna Maidel.
his
daughters'
business plan, he "plied us with
1 wasn't surprised that Yiddish came naturally to
words,"
says
Zax,
who reports that popular
me; after all, I had heard it spoken all my life. But
items
include
those
emblazoned with
when I began to observe my friends and acquain-
A Mamaleh T-shirt
Meshuggeneh
and
Oy-Vey.
American
than
tances whose forebears were-more
sells well for baby showers, as does a Shmutz
mine, also using Yiddish with their young ones, I
bib, she adds. Prices range from $18 to $36.
began_ to suspect a trend. Once maternal, even the
The repeated use of Yiddish phrases has its
most wholly American and privileged among us
benefits,
say many parents, in that it honors
are transformed into our bubbies.
and
perpetuates
a dying language.
"All of a sudden, I'm calling my kids bubbeleh,
"Adin
has
picked
up on everything we say and
squeezing the kishkas out of them, and telling
repeats
it
to
Caleb.
He
sounds like a little old
them to watch their keppies," says Amy Carson
-
Jewish man," Kleinfeldt says.
Schlussel, an attorney and mother of two in
Similarly, Devorah Pinson, a West Bloomfield
Huntington Woods.
mother of two who is prone to saying Gay Shlufe
"In many ways, I have turned into my grand-
Amy Carson Schlussel with her children Jacob, 3, and Lindsay,
(go to sleep), finds her daughter Chaya, 4,
mother," says Nancy Kleinfeldt, a mother of two 8 months
addressing
Mendel, 7 months, in Yiddish.
boys, Adin, 3, and. Caleb, 8 months, in Oak
"You
would
think that once they start school
Park. "I feel the need to feed my children con-
and
speaking
English,
its all over," she says.
University
in
Atlanta,
says
Yiddish
today
is
"so
tied
stantly. If Adin missed a meal, I was devastated. It's
"But
if
you
have
more
than
one kid, they hear you
up
with
nostalgia,
it
comes
to
the
surface"
when
the same for Caleb: If he cries, I feed him."
American Jews of. Eastern European descent become . talking in Yiddish and then they interact with the
The feeding on demand has resulted in the
younger siblings in Yiddish," she says.
parents, and it becomes a way to pass down one's
"biggest pulkes," she continues. "Of course, I never
Pinson says she hopes her children will continue
heritage. For his part, Miller and his wife referred to
call them thighs."
speaking
Yiddish into adulthood, especially when they
Kleinfeldt, whose grandmother is deceased, says she their son Ezra, before his brit milah (ritual circumci-
become
parents
themselves.
sion) as sheyfel, or little sheep, and 13 months later
thinks of her grandmother whenever she speaks in
But
do
a
few
words preserve a language for eterni-
or
cat,
to
address
him
with
are rifting on ketzel,
Yiddish. "It definitely brings a connection," she says.
ty? My grandmother doesn't think so. It is, however,
-
affection.
"better than nothing," she says, giving her typical
Passing On Our Heritage
Some parents go further than speaking to their
glass half-full response.
children in Yiddish; they start a new Yiddish busi-
Yiddish began as a German dialect dating back to
Such optimism, perhaps, is the greatest Yiddish les-
ness. That's what freelance artist Lisa Rauchwerger
1250. At its height in 1939, 11 million Jews spoke
son
of all. ❑
did in 2001 when she created Chai Wear, a line of
Yiddish, according to the National Yiddish Book
Yiddish children's shirts featuring such words as
Center; an estimated 50 percent of these speakers
Mazik, or mischievous, and Sprintze, or princess.
were killed in the Holocaust. Today, the number of
Gabriella Burman is former news editor of the Atlanta
According to the ChaiWear Web site,
Yiddish speakers is far less than that although an
Jewish Times, sister publication of the Detroit Jewish
Rauchwerger launched the company to give Jewish
exact number is unknown.
News. She returned home to Michigan earlier this year.
children an opportunity to have pride in their her-
Marc Miller, a professor of Yiddish at Emory
I
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2005
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