REICHERSON, MOSES HA-KOHEN:

Hebrew grammarian; born in Wilna, Oct. 5, 1827; died in New York April 3, 1903. After studying Talmud, Hebrew, and European languages, he became teacher of Hebrew at Wilna. About 1890 he went to New York, where he became teacher in a Jewish school.

The literary activity of Reicherson was chiefly in the field of Hebrew grammar. He wrote: "Ḥelḳat ha-Niḳḳud," on Hebrew punctuation (Wilna, 1864); "Ḥelḳat ha-Pe'alim weha-Millot," on Hebrew verbs and particles (ib. 1873); "Yad la-Niḳḳud," a compendium of the rules of Hebrew punctuation for beginners (appended to the prayer-book "Ḥinnuk Tefillah"; ib. 1880); "Diḳduḳ Ḥaberim," catechism of the elementary rules of Hebrew grammar (appended to the same prayer-book; ib. 1883); "Ma'areket ha-Diḳduḳ," a compendium of Hebrew grammar (ib. 1883; it was translated into Yiddish by its author and published in the same year); "Ḥelḳat ha-Shem," on the Hebrew noun (ib. 1884); "Tiḳḳun Meshalim," a translation of the fables of the Russian writer Krylov (ib. 1860); "Mishle Lessing we-Sippuraw," a translation of Lessing's fables (New York, 1902).

Reicherson wrote also "He'arot we-Tiḳḳunim la-Diwan," notes on the "Diwan" of Judah ha-Levi (Lyck, 1866). He left a number of works in manuscript, including: "Dibre Ḥakamim we-Ḥidotam," on Talmudic haggadot; commentaries on the Pentateuch, on the books of Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Psalms, Job, and Proverbs; a prayer-book, "Tefillah le-Mosheh"; a work on Hebrew syntax; and fables, original as well as translations from Gellert.

Bibliography:
  • Sefer Zikkaron, pp. 169-173, Warsaw, 1889;
  • Zeitlin, Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 299;
  • Eisenstadt, Ḥakme Yisrael be-Amerika, p. 101, New York, 1903:
  • Ha-Le'om, 1903, No. 6;
  • Hapgood, The Spirit of the Ghetto, pp. 40 et seq., New York, 1902.
H. R. A. S. W.
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