Little Moshe went to cheder every day
And with the other children he learned to say
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
And the rebbe would smile at him in a special way
When they came and went no one ever saw
The study of the torah was forbidden by the law
In the ominous dark shadow of the kgb
They learnt the aleph bais secretly
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
Moshe and the children would all say
together they'd repeat with voices soft and sweet
Aleph, bais, gimmel ,daled, hey
Soldiers boots scraping on the hallway floor
Terrified young eyes focused on the door
The crusty hardened face of the soldier that appeared
Filled the cheder room with great fear
He singled out Moshe what have you learned
To the scared young child all faces turned
With the bayonet so close he had no choice but to say
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
Somewhere in that soldier's memory
Himself as a young boy he did see
As the image flashed before his mind, tears came to his eyes
All the cheder children heard him say with a sigh
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey, there was a time when those letters i would say
He fought back his emotions and to the soldiers down the hall
He called lets move on there's nothing here at all
Lets move on there's nothing here at all
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
Moshe and the children would all say
together they'd repeat with voices soft and sweet
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey
Aleph, bais, gimmel, daled, hey