The Hebrew Reader… Designed as an Easy Guide to the Hebrew Tongue, for Jewish Children and Self-Instruction. No. 1. The Spelling Book (Moreh Derekh), Isaac Leeser, Philadelphia: Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell, 1838.

This work was prepared by Leeser expressly for the purpose of supplying a Hebrew primer for the pupils in the new Hebrew Sunday School of Philadelphia founded by Rebecca Gratz in 1838. The work was the first of its kind geared toward Jewish children whose native tongue was English.  Leeser provided excerpts from the liturgy as reading exercises for the students and took note of the variants between German and Portuguese pronunciations. The work was intended to be the first of a series of pedagogical tracts, as noted in the introduction: “If the present trifle meets with approbation I intend to continue the subject, and furnish an Easy Introduction to Grammar, Reading Book, for Oral and written translations, together with a vocabulary and explanatory notes; the whole to answer as an easy and progressive introduction to the study of the Holy Scriptures” (pp ii-iv). Regrettably, Leeser’s plans for additional volumes in the series were never realized, although the Hebrew Reader itself was sufficiently popular that it was subsequently reprinted in at least six more editions.