Jewish Songs. In English.
English version of Morris Winchevsky's "Ale Brider" · Music: traditional Jewish folk · Performed by Riglis Band
The song
"Ale Brider" — "All Brothers" — was written in late-19th-century Yiddish by Morris Winchevsky, a poet and co-founder of the Bund (the Jewish socialist movement). It became an anthem of solidarity: we are all brothers, we are all sisters, scattered far across the nations but one, whether we are many or few. Workers sang it at rallies. Families sang it at weddings. The melody traveled with the great immigrations to America, and never stopped traveling.
This English version, composed in 2026 by Walter J. Kin, is the same melody Jewish workers sang in Vilnius in 1890 — now in a language anyone in the world can sing.
What this version becomes
Where the Yiddish names biblical sisters — Rachel, Ruth, and Esther — the English version names modern universal ones: Rebecca, Grace, and Judy. This is deliberate, not accidental.
The 1880s version was for one community: Jewish workers in Eastern Europe, who knew exactly who Rachel and Esther were. The 2026 version is for everyone: a child in Tokyo, a grandfather in São Paulo, a teacher in Tel Aviv, a family in Brooklyn. Every sister and every brother is precious, named with love, in the language and life of today.
"The mission of the project — reviving Jewish song for a new century through double fidelity: to memory, and to the universal human truth in the words."
This is what JewishSong.org does. The melody is the soul of the Jewish song — instantly recognizable, non-negotiable. The lyric opens so that any listener, Jewish or not, can step inside.
Morris Winchevsky (1856–1932) was a Yiddish poet, journalist, and co-founder of the Bund — the Jewish socialist movement that organized Jewish workers across the Russian Empire. He wrote in Yiddish so workers and families could read him; he wrote about solidarity because he believed Jewish survival depended on it. "Ale Brider" is his most enduring song.
Credits
| Music | Traditional Jewish folk melody |
| Original Yiddish | Morris Winchevsky (1856–1932), co-founder of the Bund |
| Russian lyrics | Olga Anikina (2021) — first Russian rendering from the Yiddish |
| English lyrics | Walter J. Kin (2026) |
| Production | Walter J. Kin (RIGLI) |
| Performance | Riglis Band |
| Project | Jewish Songs for All / Jewish The Musical |
Lyrics · English version
Kids Room
More than 130 years ago, Morris Winchevsky wrote this song in Yiddish — the everyday language of Jewish families in Eastern Europe. People sang it at weddings, in workshops, at gatherings — to remember that all people are one big family.
Everyone is family. The stranger you greet on the street may turn out to be your relative. We are scattered but we are one — and every sister and brother is precious.
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