In some places around the world, Jews cover their kippot and tuck their Star of David pendants inside their shirts.
But if you’re walking down the halls of Nicolet High School you might spot students wearing a t-shirt with the message, “Everyone loves a Jewish girl.”
Aviva Levi, a Nicolet senior, bought her shirt after she saw someone wearing it at school. She wears it not just because she “thought it was cute,” but also because “I thought it was a way to show your pride and background.”
Levi is not alone, according to Jen Sonstein Maidenberg, who, along with her business partner, Devora Yellin Brustin, started “2 Jewish Cowgirls.” “Right now Jews are enjoying a comeback in pop culture,” she said.
Her company caters to “a new generation of Jews” who are “feeling confident and proud of their Judaism, and want to wear it proudly on their chests,” Maidenberg said in a recent telephone interview. Via their Web site, www.2jewishcowgirls.com , the company sells t-shirts featuring their company name, and other phrases, such as “100% Kosher Beef.”
Theirs is one of several new companies that create and sell Jewish identity clothing, which is becoming increasingly popular, according to Maidenberg, who says that 2 Jewish Cowgirls receives orders from all over the country.
Maidenberg and Brustin both moved from large cities to Tucson, Ariz., in 2001, and happened to meet in their children’s pediatrician’s office in 2003.
According to their Web site, the pair “possessed an urgent need to express their sassier side… i.e. their inner cowgirl. They also wanted to put a name and a face to the type of women they had become since moving from large East Coast cities.” Shortly afterward, 2 Jewish Cowgirls was born.
Further west, three sisters had a similar idea.
Daniella Zax, Nina Bush and Myla Fraser, daughters of Los Angeles Rabbi Jerry Cutler “always wanted to work together,” Zax said in a recent interview. So the three founded “Rabbi’s Daughters,” which, according to Zax, “seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Their line, which consists mostly of t-shirts and tank tops, but also sweatpants and necklaces, features Yiddish phrases like “shayna punim,” “oy vey,” and “meshugennah” (all top sellers) in addition to about 10 others. The tops are available at www.rabbisdaughters.com and Girlshop.com , and have been featured in several national newspapers and magazines, including People Magazine.
Reclaiming and rejuvenating
Of the one-year old company’s success, Zax says, “Yiddish is a wonderful, fun language. A lot of Yiddish words are used in the mainstream [and people] don’t even realize it.” Zax said that this “wonderful explosion of Jewish clothing” shows that the women and men who wear these items are proud of their “strong heritage.”
Josh Rosenzweig works for “Jewcy,” which manufactures t-shirts and other items printed with their company logo — “Jewcy” with the Hebrew letter, shin, in place of the “w.” He agrees with Zax.
“It really is more than an accessory line,” Rosenzweig said. “It is about reclaiming some of our Jewish heritage … those of us who may have strayed a bit from the formality of shul.”
Jewcy’s Web site, www.jew cy.com , also carries products from other manufacturers, including a section of “Tzatkes.”
Zax thinks that when people wear Rabbi’s Daughters clothes, they are “rejuvenating the [Yiddish] language. Madonna’s wearing it; Grandma’s wearing it. We have women who speak Yiddish wearing our products, which is so special.”
2 Jewish Cowgirls, Rabbi’s Daughter’s and Jewcy aren’t distributing in Wisconsin stores at this time, but products are available online.
Levi purchased her shirt from Urban Outfitters, which has a store in Madison, as well as a Web site.
Urban Outfitters has similar shirts for other religions and ethnicities, some of which Levi has seen other students wearing at school. “I am lucky enough to go to a school and live in a community that is accepting enough,” she said.
As for the future, all three companies plan to further expand their lines in the coming months, a sign that the Jewish identity trend is growing. Zax said that “new products are in the works” for Rabbi’s Daughters, and Maidenberg said that the 2 Jewish Cowgirls line will grow to include more children’s wear, as well as new Jewish Cowgirls items “for those cowgirls who like their kosher salsa spicy instead of mild.”
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