The Youngest Soldiers

With the world outside adrift in chaos and uncertainty, listening to the sweet, sincere, timeless sound of a chassidish boys’ choir singing in Yiddish is one way to come back to calmer ground — perfect timing for the release of YINGERLICH 4, the most recent in the Yingerlich series, sung by the famed chassidish children’s choir under the direction of Shea Rosen, and produced by Naftali Schnitzler. For this album, there’s a new composer on board: Yona Lipshitz of Williamsburg adds flair and depth to the project with his slew of original songs.

“Honestly, I hesitated when Naftali asked me to work on this project with him,” Yona says. “To compose songs for an entire album seemed daunting, when I had only five or six ready to go. But in the end, it was well worth it.”

“Bentchen,” an upbeat, child-friendly review of the four brachos of Bircas Hamazon in Yiddish, and “Azamer,” an original take on the pre-Kiddush Aramaic piyut of Friday night, were actually composed a couple of years ago, but other songs evolved recently in a surge of creativity as Yona and Naftali worked together on the album, which was released in December.

Like the rest of the Yingerlich series, the album is family friendly, easy listening for mothers at home, people on their commute, and kids wherever they are.