# Chaim Szyia Biderman (b.1835) <!-- AUTO:BEGIN โ€” generated from GEDCOM; do not edit, overwritten on rebuild --> > ๐Ÿ”ต **Bernstein โ€” Ozzy's side** ยท Relationship to Ozzy: **(relative)** ![[I510603.jpg|220]] **Born** ~1835 **Died** 10/06/1906 โ€” [[ลฤ™czna]] **Parents** [[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1808)]] ยท [[Marya Chana]] **Spouses** [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]] ยท [[Malka Tejtelbojm]] **Children** [[Mala Dwojra Biderman (b.1858)]] ยท [[Srul Moszek Biderman (b.1861)]] ยท [[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1866)]] ยท [[Marya Chana Biderman (b.1878)]] **Siblings** [[Moszko Chaskiel Biderman (b.1831)]] ยท [[Mendel Lejb Biderman (b.1835)]] ยท [[Nosel Calka Biderman (b.1843)]] ยท [[Sura Certla Biderman (b.1848)]] ยท [[Srul Iser Abram Bria Biderman (d.1874)]] ยท [[Menachem Mendel Biderman]] **๐Ÿ“ธ Media โ€” from MyHeritage** ![[I510603_1.jpg|180]] ![[I510603_2.jpg|180]] ![[I510603_3.jpg|180]] **Documents โ€” from MyHeritage:** [[I510603_doc0.pdf|๐Ÿ“„ xcYjo4jq9D7PcwMkrCsdS]] ยท [[I510603_doc1.pdf|๐Ÿ“„ PRINTpage]] ยท [[I510603_doc2.pdf|๐Ÿ“„ PRINTpage]] ยท [[I510603_doc3.pdf|๐Ÿ“„ haMelitz]] *GEDCOM I510603 ยท Bernstein tree ยท synced 2026-07-01* <!-- AUTO:END --> ## Narrative Chaim Szyja Biderman (born ~1835, died 10 June 1906 in [[ลฤ™czna]]) was a son of [[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1808)]] and [[Marya Chana]], and a man who lived his whole recorded life in the private town of ลฤ™czna โ€” first as a young shopkeeper, later as one of the men its Jewish community turned to when it had no rabbi of its own.[^wiki][^akta165] He surfaces first in the town's commercial paper. On **15/27 November 1862**, before the notary Krasnodฤ™bski-Gaล‚czyล„ski, act no. 165 was drawn up recording the sale of a commercial shop (*sklep handlowy*) standing at ลฤ™czna no. 214.[^akta165] The sellers were [[Ryfka Ruchla Cukierman (b.1811)]] and [[Chil Barbanel (b.1838)]]; the buyer, for **180 silver rubles**, was Chaim Szyja Biderman โ€” then a man of about twenty-seven.[^akta165] The parties closed the deal in their own hands: Ryfka Ruchla signed in Hebrew and made her mark on Chil Barbanel's behalf, and Biderman signed his own name to the contract.[^akta165] A shop changing hands for 180 rubles was a substantial fixture in a market town of ลฤ™czna's size, and the act sets the young Biderman down among the Barbanel family in the town's trade a full generation before his name would be attached to its rabbinate.[^akta165] That later, more public chapter opens with a vacancy. Rabbi Chaim Boruch Kowartowski had held the rabbinate of ลฤ™czna since 1856; when he died in 1885 the community was left with no official rabbi.[^wiki] Into that gap stepped Biderman. As a member of the community's board of trustees, he was granted the authority to discharge the rabbinical office, and he carried it from **1885 until 1889**.[^wiki] The distinction matters and the source itself preserves it: he served as an acting rabbi, a trustee filling the seat, rather than a formally installed one โ€” a role that speaks to the standing he already held among the community's leadership.[^wiki] One rabbinic print of the period names him directly and fixes both his Hebrew name and his place in a family. The subscriber list of *Tiferet Zvi* (5626/1866) enters him under the ลฤ™czna heading as **"R' Chaim Yehoshua, son of the rabbi R' [Jankiel] Dawid"** โ€” the Hebrew form of Chaim Szyja, with his father [[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1808)]] named by the initials *yud-dalet*.[^tz] He appears there in a cluster of men marked as married into the Balter household of [[Berek Balter (b.1807)|Beryl ha-Levi Balter]]: Beryl's son-in-law Jankiel Wechtenstein, then Biderman and the others as *g'iso* ("brother-in-law") โ€” the print counterpart of his own marriage to [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]], Berek's daughter, which knit him into the leading Balter family of the town.[^tz] That standing is echoed further in print, and the printed pages themselves bear it out. In the haskama to *Likutim Hadashim* of Yehiel Moshe Grinwald he signs at the foot as **"Chaim Yehoshua โ€ฆ of the holy community of ลฤ™czna"** (*ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข โ€ฆ ื‘ืง"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข*), his name set beside those of neighbouring rabbis who approved the work.[^likutim] The family also records a second haskama in 1906 โ€” the last year of his life โ€” to *Beit David* of David Yitzchak Bochner.[^bio] His name is likewise carried in the *prenumeranten*, the subscriber rolls that Torah works of the age printed to fund and honour their backers. In *Hiddushei HaRim* on Hoshen Mishpat the ลฤ™czna column opens with him by name โ€” **"ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื™ื“ืขืจืžืืŸ"**, the printed Yiddish form of Chaim Yehoshua Biderman[^harim] โ€” and he stands among the ลฤ™czna subscribers of *Pri Tzaddik* of R. Zadok haKohen of Lublin and of *Kos Yeshuot* of R. Zvi Hirsch Harif as well.[^pritzadik][^kos] The family further notes his entry in *Tehor Ra'ayonim* on Shas and in an edition of *Masechet Avot*.[^bio] To subscribe to such volumes, and to be sought for a haskama, was to be counted among the learned of one's town โ€” the paper counterpart to the seat he held in 1885. He was, moreover, read as a halakhic voice and not merely a patron. In *Sha'arit Yosef* (1893) a point of law is argued with reference to **"R' Chaim Yehoshua โ€ฆ the aforementioned rabbi of ลฤ™czna"** (*ืจื‘ื™ ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข โ€ฆ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื ื”ื "ืœ*), his ruling brought alongside the *Beit Yosef* on the sugya at hand โ€” the mark of a man whose opinion carried in the responsa literature of his region.[^shaarit] The books also reach back a generation, and here the front matter of one of them opens a door. *She'erit Natan* โ€” the responsa of **R. Natan ben Yehoshua Falk** (Warsaw, 1897) โ€” carries in its approbations Chaim Yehoshua, named there too as the rabbi of ลฤ™czna (*ืžื•' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื "ื™ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื*), among those who welcomed the work to press and helped shepherd it forward.[^sheerit] By the family's reading of that same approbation, he and his brother R. Chaskel stood to the author as grandsons, which would set a **Falk** rabbinic line โ€” through R. Natan, son of Yehoshua โ€” behind the brothers' mother's side.[^bio] The connection is borne out beyond the 1897 sheets: the work was reissued in 1990 under the editorship of a **Yosef Biderman**, a descendant carrying the family name back to the Falk responsa a century on.[^sheerit] He married twice, to [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]] and to [[Malka Tejtelbojm]], and the four children recorded to him โ€” [[Mala Dwojra Biderman (b.1858)]], [[Srul Moszek Biderman (b.1861)]], [[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1866)]], and [[Marya Chana Biderman (b.1878)]] โ€” span two decades of the same ลฤ™czna household in which he traded, subscribed, and, for four years, kept the rabbi's chair.[^bio] He died there on 10 June 1906.[^wiki] [^akta165]: Notarial register of Krasnodฤ™bski-Gaล‚czyล„ski, ลฤ™czna, act no. 165, 15/27 November 1862 โ€” contract for sale of shop no. 214 in ลฤ™czna, 180 silver rubles, Ryfka Ruchla & Chil Barbanel to Chaim Szyja Biderman (buyer). Ryfka Ruchla signed in Hebrew and marked for Chil; Biderman signed his own name. Scan (page 028) via skanoteka.genealodzy.pl: https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3974&se=&sy=4&kt=&plik=028.jpg&zoom=2.5 โ€” read and transcribed 2026-07-04. [^wiki]: "History of the Jews in ลฤ™czna," Wikipedia (Known community leaders section): "after Rabbi Kowatrowski's death in 1885, the community had no official Rabbi, making Chaim Szyja Biderman - a member of the community trustees authority to fulfill the role until 1889." Rabbi Chaim Boruch Kowartowski became rabbi of ลฤ™czna in 1856. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_%C5%81%C4%99czna [^bio]: MyHeritage biography on this profile, with its cited Google Books links: haskama to *Likutim Hadashim* (Grinwald) and 1906 to *Beit David* (Bochner); prenumeranten in *Hiddushei HaRim* on Hoshen Mishpat, *Pri Tzaddik* (R. Zadok haKohen of Lublin), *Kos Yeshuot* (R. Zvi Hirsch Harif), *Tehor Ra'ayonim* on Shas, and *Masechet Avot* (recorded by the family as *ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื—"ืจ ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ*); mention by his brother R. Chaskel in an approbation to *She'erit Natan* (R. Natan Falk, described as the brothers' grandfather). Several of these Google Books pages were read directly on 2026-07-06 (see the dedicated footnotes below); *Beit David* and *Tehor Ra'ayonim* rest on the family cataloguing, and the *Masechet Avot* "ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ" wording and *Leket Maharit* remain unread (see Open questions). [^likutim]: *Likutim Hadashim*, Yehiel Moshe Grinwald โ€” [Google Books ugYuQd-CsyoC, p. 3](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%9C%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%98%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D/ugYuQd-CsyoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=PA3) (full view; read from the page image, signed in to Google, 2026-07-06). The haskama closes with his signature line, best-read as *โ€ฆืžื•ื”ืจื™"ื“ ื–"ืœ **ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข** ื‘ืง"ืง **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข*** โ€” "Chaim Yehoshua, of the holy community of ลฤ™czna" (the town word carried the search highlight). Court-print Hebrew; given name and town read confidently. [^harim]: *Sefer Hiddushei HaRi"m al Hoshen Mishpat*, subscriber list (*prenumeranten*), arranged by town โ€” [Google Books 9XEmeF_MxFUC, p. 310](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%97%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%9E_%D7%A2%D7%9C_%D7%97%D7%A9%D7%9F/9XEmeF_MxFUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=PA310) (full view; read from the page image 2026-07-06). Under the bold town heading **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข** (ลฤ™czna), immediately above the following heading ืœื•ื‘ืœื™ืŸ (Lublin), the first name listed is **ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื™ื“ืขืจืžืืŸ** โ€” the printed Yiddish form of his name. Confidently read. [^pritzadik]: *Pri Tzaddik*, R. Zadok haKohen of Lublin, *Shemot ha-Prenumeranten* โ€” [Google Books v4ZWAAAAMAAJ, front-matter subscriber page](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%A6%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A7/v4ZWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=RA1-PT6) (full view; read from the page image 2026-07-06). The subscriber list carries a **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื** (ลฤ™czna) town block on this page (search-matched); his entry falls within that ลฤ™czna cohort. The specific line was not isolated at readable magnification โ€” his name is confirmed present under ลฤ™czna; the exact spelling is best taken from the *Hiddushei HaRim* reading above. [^kos]: *Kos Yeshuot*, R. Zvi Hirsch Harif, subscriber list โ€” [Google Books 1O8_AAAAYAAJ](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kos_yeshu%CA%BBot/1O8_AAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=RA2-PP2) (full view; read from the page image 2026-07-06). A **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื** (ลฤ™czna) town block appears on this page (search-matched), opening *ื“ืจื”"ื’ ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื•ืกืฃโ€ฆ*; his entry falls within the ลฤ™czna cohort. The individual Biderman line was not isolated at readable magnification. [^shaarit]: *Sefer Sha'arit Yosef* (Yosef Even Virga / ed. R. Yerachmiel Meir Leiner, 1893) โ€” [Google Books jvwLAAAAIAAJ, p. 50](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A3/jvwLAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA50) (full view; read from the page image 2026-07-06). Within a halakhic discussion citing the *Beit Yosef* (Yoreh De'ah), the running text names **ืจื‘ื™ ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข โ€ฆ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื ื”ื "ืœ** ("R' Chaim Yehoshua โ€ฆ the aforementioned rabbi of ลฤ™czna") and brings a point in his name. Town and given name read confidently; the surrounding clause is best-effort court-print reading. [^sheerit]: *She'erit Natan* โ€” she'elot u-teshuvot of **R. Natan ben Yehoshua Falk**, Warsaw 1897, 144 pp. (original from Harvard) โ€” [Google Books cX8TAAAAYAAJ, p. 4](https://www.google.com/books/edition/She%CA%BEerit_Natan/cX8TAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA4) (full view; read from the page image 2026-07-06). Page 4, headed *ื”ืงื“ืžื•ืช ื•ื”ืกื›ืžื•ืช* (Introductions and Approbations), carries **three** highlighted occurrences of **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื**; in the relevant approbation Chaim Yehoshua is named *ืžื•' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื "ื™ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื* (rabbi of ลฤ™czna), with the labour of bringing the work to press passed to his son *ืžื•' ื™ืฉืจืืœ ืžืฉื”*. The Google Books edition record also lists a **1990 edition edited by Yosef Biderman** โ€” a Biderman-family reissue of the Falk responsa, corroborating the familyโ€“Falk link. Best-effort court-print reading; the "grandfather" framing itself follows the family's account of the approbation's wording (see Open questions). [^tz]: *Tiferet Zvi* (responsa of R. Zvi Hirsch [Halberstadt]), Even ha-Ezer, 5626/1866, *Shemot ha-Prenumeranten* (subscriber list), ลฤ™czna section โ€” [HebrewBooks 22623, p. 8](https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=22623#p=8) (read from the page image 2026-07-06). His entry: "*ื’ื™ืกื•* (brother-in-law) **ื”ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื”ืจื‘ ื”ื’ืื•ืŸ ืžื•"ื” ื™"ื“ ื–ืฆ"ืœ** โ€” R' Chaim Yehoshua, son of the great rabbi R' [Jankiel] Dawid, of blessed memory." He stands in the ลฤ™czna block among the kin of "R' Beryl ha-Levi Balter" ([[Berek Balter (b.1807)]]) โ€” Beryl's son-in-law Wechtenstein, then Biderman, Marszalkowicz, and Beryl's son Abraham Yosef Balter as *g'iso* โ€” the marriage-cluster of the Balter household, consistent with his marriage to [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]]. This is the same subscriber list whose page image also carries his profile's Tiferet Zvi gallery clip. ## Research *(your reasoning โ€” preserved across every rebuild)* - **1862 notarial contract, ลฤ™czna (read 2026-07-04).** Act no. 165, notary Krasnodฤ™bski-Gaล‚czyล„ski, dated 15/27 November 1862: sale of commercial shop no. 214 in ลฤ™czna for 180 silver rubles, from Ryfka Ruchla Barbanel & Chil Barbanel to Chaim Szyja Biderman (buyer). Biderman signed his own name; Ryfka Ruchla signed in Hebrew and marked for Chil. Best-effort court-hand reading; wording of the property description is confident, the exact ruble figure and act date are clear. Scan (p.028): https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3974&se=&sy=4&kt=&plik=028.jpg&zoom=2.5 - **Acting rabbi of ลฤ™czna, 1885โ€“1889 (Wikipedia, read 2026-07-04).** After Rabbi Chaim Boruch Kowartowski (rabbi from 1856) died in 1885, Biderman โ€” a member of the community trustees โ€” held authority to fulfil the rabbinical role until 1889. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_%C5%81%C4%99czna - **Tiferet Zvi โ€” ลฤ™czna subscriber list (HebrewBooks, read from page image 2026-07-06).** In the *Shemot ha-Prenumeranten* of *Tiferet Zvi* (Even ha-Ezer, 5626/1866), ลฤ™czna section, he is entered as **"ื”ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื”ืจื‘ ื”ื’ืื•ืŸ ืžื•"ื” ื™"ื“ ื–ืฆ"ืœ"** โ€” "R' Chaim Yehoshua, son of the rabbi R' [Jankiel] Dawid" โ€” confirming (a) his Hebrew given name **Chaim Yehoshua** (= Chaim Szyja) and (b) his father as **[[Jankiel Dawid Biderman (b.1808)]]** (initials ื™"ื“). He is listed as *ื’ื™ืกื•* (brother-in-law) within the marriage-cluster of **[[Berek Balter (b.1807)|R' Beryl ha-Levi Balter]]** (with Beryl's son-in-law Wechtenstein, Marszalkowicz, and Beryl's son Abraham Yosef Balter) โ€” the print witness to his marriage into the Balter family via [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]]. Source: [HebrewBooks 22623 p.8](https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=22623#p=8). - **Google Books Hebrew page images โ€” read in a signed-in browser pass, 2026-07-06.** Direct reading of the page scans (not just the Google Books interface) established the following. All confirm the Hebrew given name **Chaim Yehoshua** (= Chaim Szyja) and the town **ลฤ™czna** (spelled ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื / ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข): - **Likutim Hadashim** (Grinwald), [p. 3](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%9C%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%98%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D/ugYuQd-CsyoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=PA3) โ€” his **haskama signature** reads *โ€ฆื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ืง"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข*. (Full view.) - **Hiddushei HaRim on Hoshen Mishpat**, [p. 310](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%97%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%9E_%D7%A2%D7%9C_%D7%97%D7%A9%D7%9F/9XEmeF_MxFUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=PA310) โ€” under the **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ืข** heading the first subscriber is **ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื™ื“ืขืจืžืืŸ** (Chaim Yehoshua Biderman). Cleanest direct spelling of his full name. (Full view.) - **Pri Tzaddik** (R. Zadok haKohen of Lublin), [subscriber page](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%A6%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A7/v4ZWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2&pg=RA1-PT6) โ€” **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื** town block present (search-matched); his line within the ลฤ™czna cohort. (Full view; individual line not isolated at readable magnification.) - **Kos Yeshuot** (R. Zvi Hirsch Harif), [subscriber page](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kos_yeshu%CA%BBot/1O8_AAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=RA2-PP2) โ€” **ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื** town block present (search-matched). (Full view; individual line not isolated.) - **Sha'arit Yosef** (1893), [p. 50](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A3/jvwLAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA50) โ€” **substantive halakhic citation**: the text argues a point of Yoreh De'ah (with the *Beit Yosef*) and cites *ืจื‘ื™ ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข โ€ฆ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื ื”ื "ืœ* ("the aforementioned rabbi of ลฤ™czna"). He is quoted as a legal authority, not merely a subscriber. (Full view.) - **She'erit Natan** (R. Natan b. Yehoshua Falk, Warsaw 1897), [p. 4](https://www.google.com/books/edition/She%CA%BEerit_Natan/cX8TAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA4) โ€” see the dedicated Falk note below. - Still to read: **Beit David** (Bochner, 1906) and **Tehor Ra'ayonim** (not opened this pass); **Masechet Avot** "ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื—"ืจ ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ" wording (in-book search for ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื did not resolve; town-search landed on other-town pages); **Leket Maharit** is limited-preview (snippet only) โ€” see Open questions. - **She'erit Natan โ†’ maternal FALK line (read 2026-07-06).** The work is the responsa of **R. Natan ben Yehoshua Falk** (Warsaw, 1897). Page 4 (*ื”ืงื“ืžื•ืช ื•ื”ืกื›ืžื•ืช*) names Chaim Yehoshua as *ืžื•' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื "ื™ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื* (rabbi of ลฤ™czna) โ€” **3 highlighted ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื matches** on the page โ€” and passes the labour of bringing the work to press to his son *ืžื•' ื™ืฉืจืืœ ืžืฉื”*. The Google Books edition record additionally lists a **1990 reissue edited by Yosef Biderman**, i.e. a Biderman descendant re-publishing the Falk responsa โ€” independent corroboration of the Bidermanโ€“Falk connection. Per the family's reading of the approbation, the brothers Chaim Szyja and R. Chaskel are grandsons of the author R. Natan Falk, implying a **Falk** rabbinic line behind their mother [[Marya Chana]]. The "grandfather" wording itself still wants a direct hand-read (see Open questions), but the author's name (**Natan, son of Yehoshua, Falk**) and the Biderman-edited reissue make this the strongest lead yet for a maternal Falk ancestry. Source: [Google Books cX8TAAAAYAAJ p.4](https://www.google.com/books/edition/She%CA%BEerit_Natan/cX8TAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA4). ## Evidence - **Tiferet Zvi โ€” ลฤ™czna subscriber list naming him (HebrewBooks 22623, p.8; read 2026-07-06).** Entered as **"ื”ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื”ืจื‘ ื”ื’ืื•ืŸ ืžื•"ื” ื™"ื“ ื–ืฆ"ืœ"** โ€” R' Chaim Yehoshua, son of R' [Jankiel] Dawid โ€” as *ื’ื™ืกื•* (brother-in-law) in the ลฤ™czna marriage-cluster of R' Beryl ha-Levi Balter. Source: [HebrewBooks 22623 p.8](https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=22623#p=8). ![[TiferetZvi_22623_p8_Leczna-subscribers.jpg]] *Tiferet Zvi subscriber list (p.8), ลฤ™czna block: **ื’ื™ืกื• ื”ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื”ืจื‘ ื”ื’ืื•ืŸ ืžื•"ื” ื™"ื“ ื–ืฆ"ืœ** (R' Chaim Yehoshua b. R' [Jankiel] Dawid), listed among the Balter household โ€” [[Berek Balter (b.1807)|Beryl ha-Levi Balter]], son-in-law Wechtenstein, and Abraham Yosef Balter.* ## Open questions - **Google Books Hebrew page images โ€” mostly READ 2026-07-06; residue below.** A signed-in browser pass read the scans directly (see Research): *Likutim Hadashim* (haskama signature), *Hiddushei HaRim* (ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื‘ื™ื“ืขืจืžืืŸ under ลฤ™czna), *Pri Tzaddik* and *Kos Yeshuot* (ลฤ™czna town blocks present), *Sha'arit Yosef* (halakhic citation of "the rabbi of ลฤ™czna"), and *She'erit Natan* (Falk, see below) all rendered in full view. **Still unread / unresolved:** - **Masechet Avot** ([xoctAAAAYAAJ](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%9E%D7%A1%D7%9B%D7%AA_%D7%90%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%9D_%D7%AA%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%93_%D7%91%D7%91%D7%9C/xoctAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1)) โ€” the subscriber list (*ืžืงื‘ืœื™ ื”ืกืคืจ*) renders in full view, but this pass could not isolate the line recorded by the family as *ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื—"ืจ ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ* (the town-search terms landed on other-town pages; an in-book search for ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื did not resolve). Still wants a direct read to confirm whether the wording ties him to his father-in-law **Beril Balter** rather than to Biderman descent. - **Leket Maharit** (Rozenberg, 1996 โ€” [y-WVF69dbPYC](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Le%E1%B8%B3e%E1%B9%AD_Mahari%E1%B9%AD/y-WVF69dbPYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90)) โ€” **Google Books limited-preview (snippet only); not readable.** A single snippet on p.264 shows ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื highlighted in a running-text mention near "ืื‘ื“"ืง," but the surrounding passage cannot be displayed. - **Beit David** (Bochner, 1906 haskama) and **Tehor Ra'ayonim** on Shas โ€” not opened this pass; still on the family cataloguing only. - **"ืจ' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข ื—"ืจ ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ" in *Masechet Avot*.** Recorded as "โ€ฆ[son-in-law] of R' Beril Balter," not Biderman. The *Tiferet Zvi* subscriber list (read 2026-07-06) supports the marriage reading: there he is "Chaim Yehoshua **son of R' [Jankiel] Dawid**" (his true patriline) but placed within the **Balter marriage-cluster** as *ื’ื™ืก*, i.e. tied to R' Beryl Balter's household by his marriage to [[Fajga Balter (b.1840)]]. So the *Masechet Avot* "ื—"ืจ ื‘ืขืจื™ืœ ื‘ืืœื˜ืขืจ" almost certainly denotes his **father-in-law's family (Balter), not his own descent** โ€” consistent, though the *Masechet Avot* print itself still wants a direct read to confirm the exact wording. *(Given name confirmed: **Chaim Yehoshua** = Chaim Szyja.)* - **Grandfather R. Natan Falk (via *She'erit Natan*) โ€” candidate maternal line (strengthened 2026-07-06).** *She'erit Natan* page 4 was read directly: the author is **R. Natan ben Yehoshua Falk** (Warsaw, 1897), Chaim Yehoshua appears in the approbations as *ืžื•' ื—ื™ื™ื ื™ื”ื•ืฉืข โ€ฆ ืื‘ื“"ืง ืœืขื ื˜ืฉื ื* (rabbi of ลฤ™czna, 3 highlighted matches), and the Google Books edition record shows a **1990 reissue edited by Yosef Biderman** โ€” a Biderman descendant re-publishing the Falk responsa. Together these corroborate a real Bidermanโ€“Falk tie. **Remaining to confirm:** the precise "grandfather" (*ื–ืงื ื ื•* / *ืื‘ื™ ืืžื ื•*) wording in the brothers' approbation โ€” the passage naming Chaim Yehoshua and (per the family) declaring the author their grandfather was legible in outline but the exact kinship phrase was not transcribed word-for-word this pass (heavy court-print; the browser's high-zoom froze repeatedly). If confirmed, this places a **Falk** rabbinic line behind the brothers' mother [[Marya Chana]] โ€” a maternal ancestry not yet represented in the tree, and the best current lead for it. Worth a hand-read of [She'erit Natan p.4](https://www.google.com/books/edition/She%CA%BEerit_Natan/cX8TAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%90&pg=PA4) to fix the exact kinship term and to check whether "son Israel Moshe" (named in the same approbation as bringing the work to press) is R. Chaskel's son or another kinsman.