Moses Reicherson

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Moses Reicherson (Hebrew: משה בן‑דוד הכהן רייכערסאָהן; born 5 October 1827 in Vilnius, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire; died 3 April 1903 in New York) was a Hebrew grammarian, translator, biblical commentator, and poet. He studied Talmud, Hebrew, and European languages, taught Hebrew, and worked as a proofreader and editor for publishing houses. A childhood friend of J. L. Gordon, Reicherson eventually moved to New York in the early 1890s to be near his son, where he lived in poverty. He worked as a melamed (teacher) at the Uptown Talmud Torah in Harlem and became its principal by 1901. He died in New York in 1903.

Reicherson’s main contributions were in Hebrew grammar. His notable works include:
- Ḥelkat ha-nikkud (1864) — on Hebrew punctuation
- Ḥelkat ha-pe'alim veha-milot (1873) — on Hebrew verbs and particles
- Yad la-nikkud (1880) — a beginner’s compendium of punctuation, appended to the prayer book Ḥinnuk tefillah
- Dikduk ḥaberim (1883) — elementary rules of Hebrew grammar, appended to the same prayer book
- Ma'arekhet ha-dikduk (1883) — a comprehensive grammar; translated into Yiddish by Reicherson and published the same year
- Ḥelkat ha-shem (1884) — on the Hebrew noun
- Tikkun meshalim (1860) — a translation of the fables of I. A. Krylov
- Mishle Lessing ve-sippurav (1902) — a translation of Lessing’s fables

He contributed essays on linguistics to American and European Hebrew journals such as Ner ma'aravi, Ha-pisgah, Ha-Ivri, and Ha-teḥiya, and published poetry in Joshua Mezaḥ’s Gan peraḥim. He wrote He'arot we-tikkunim la-divan (notes on Judah ha-Levi’s diwan) in Lyck (1866).

Reicherson left a number of works in manuscript, including:
- Dibre ḥakamim ve-ḥidotam, on Talmudic aggadot
- Commentaries on the Pentateuch and the Books of Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Psalms, Job, and Proverbs
- A prayer book, Tefillah le-Moshe
- A work on Hebrew syntax
- Fables, both original and translations from Gellert

He is remembered for his efforts to develop Hebrew grammar and for his translations and commentaries that made Hebrew text and language more accessible.