Shimshon Aryeh Iserov (b.1864) - The Bernstein-Dahne Genealogy Wiki

# Shimshon Aryeh Iserov (b.1864)  > 🔵 **Bernstein — Ozzy's side** · Relationship to Ozzy: **3x great-grandfather · also 4th cousin 7x removed *(2 ancestral lines)*** ![[I500052.jpg|220]] **Born** ~1864 — [[Medzhybizh]] **Died** 02/03/1914 — [[Beth Israel]] **Parents** [[Yosef Iserov (b.1841)]] · [[Beyla Horodenka (d.1894)]] **Spouses** [[Soshe Greenberg (b.1869)]] · [[Unknown (115)]] **Children** [[Nutta Cholodenko Iserov (b.1886)]] · [[Avram Isseroff (b.1888)]] · [[Baila Isseroff (b.1894)]] · [[Yehuda Leib Isseroff (b.1898)]] · [[Simcha Isseroff (b.1900)]] · [[Ezra Isseroff (b.1904)]] **Siblings** [[Bina Isseroff (b.1884)]] **📸 Media — from MyHeritage** ![[I500052_1.jpg|180]] ![[I500052_2.jpg|180]] ![[I500052_3.jpg|180]] ### How you're related — 2 distinct paths *These are genuinely separate bloodlines (the family intermarried), not the same line counted twice.* - **3x great-grandfather** — [[Shimshon Aryeh Iserov (b.1864)]] → [[Yehuda Leib Isseroff (b.1898)]] → [[Hadassah Isseroff (b.1928)]] → [[Chaya Goldfischer (b.1950)]] → [[Avi Bernstein (b.1977)]] → [[Azriel Yosef Bernstein (b.2000)]] - **4th cousin 7x removed** — [[Shimshon Aryeh Iserov (b.1864)]] → [[Yosef Iserov (b.1841)]] → [[Rukhlya Chmelnicky Auerbach (b.1818)]] → [[Udel Horodenker (b.1787)]] → [[Nachman Horodenker (b.1772)]] → [[Simcha Weinberg (b.1750)]] → [[Yechiel Tzvi Horodenker of Krementchik and Tcherin (b.1771)]] → [[Baila (b.1787)]] → [[Rivka Miriam (b.1790)]] → [[Rochel Rosenberg (b.1825)]] → [[Maryim Rivka Perlman (b.1845)]] → [[Sura Yuta Reiter (b.1855)]] → [[Shalom Goldfischer (b.1878)]] → [[Miriam Goldfischer (b.1902)]] → [[William Bill Goldfischer (b.1923)]] → [[Chaya Goldfischer (b.1950)]] → [[Avi Bernstein (b.1977)]] → [[Azriel Yosef Bernstein (b.2000)]] *GEDCOM I500052 · Bernstein tree · synced 2026-07-01*  ## Narrative Shimshon Aryeh Iserov was born about 1864 in [[Medzhybizh]], Ukraine, to [[Yosef Iserov (b.1841)]] and [[Beyla Horodenka (d.1894)]]. By adulthood he had settled in Berdichev, the Ukrainian city whose Hasidic life was steeped in the memory of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, and he became known there as "Rabbi Shimshon Berditshever" (Breslov memorial biography, translated from [breslev.org](https://www.breslev.org/memorial-days/%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91/)). According to that memorial account, his youth was one of severe poverty; in time he opened a shop and reached a comfortable livelihood, though he later lamented that prosperity had cost him the broken-hearted intensity with which he once recited Psalms. He ran a cheder in Berdichev and, around 5658 (1897–1898), hired the Hasid Shmuel-Heschel Friedman to teach his students writing — the encounter through which, by Friedman's own testimony in his diary *Toldot Shmuel*, Friedman was drawn to Breslov. At that period Shimshon was living in the cobblers' synagogue, and he and his students studied together through Thursday nights. It was also Shimshon who set Friedman on the path to the Land of Israel: facing a Russian army draft notice, Friedman was advised by Shimshon to seek out Rabbi Yisrael Karduner in Uman, and with Shimshon's letter of recommendation he obtained the documents and funds to emigrate (breslev.org). The 1897 Berdichev revision list records the household — Shimshon; his wife Sosya, daughter of Nuta; sons Nuta and Abram; daughter Beyla; and his mother-in-law Sura, daughter of Ayzik (1897 Berdichev revision list, [JewishGen image](https://data.jewishgen.org/imagedata/ukraine/DAKO_384-15_1897census_Berdichev_district/384-15-23/275.jpg)). This corresponds to his wife [[Soshe Greenberg (b.1869)]] and to children including [[Nutta Cholodenko Iserov (b.1886)]] and [[Avram Isseroff (b.1888)]]. Long in correspondence with Friedman after the latter's aliyah, Shimshon wrote to him in 1904 of his own longing to move to the Land of Israel, asking for details of the journey. Two years later, having sold his possessions and secured papers for the family, he emigrated with his wife and children — Avraham (16), Yehuda (6), Simcha (4), Ezra (1), and a daughter — reaching the Holy Land in Tammuz 5666 (July 1906); only his eldest son remained in Berdichev (breslev.org). The children of this journey are recorded in the vault as [[Avram Isseroff (b.1888)]], [[Yehuda Leib Isseroff (b.1898)]], [[Simcha Isseroff (b.1900)]], [[Ezra Isseroff (b.1904)]], and [[Baila Isseroff (b.1894)]], with [[Nutta Cholodenko Iserov (b.1886)]] the son who stayed behind. In Jerusalem the family lodged first at the Meah Shearim guest house and, about a month later, moved to an apartment on Jewish Street, where Avraham entered a yeshiva; Shimshon later rented a home in Batei Teiman near Friedman, and the two studied Breslov works together. At the start of the winter of 1913 he came to Jaffa with his son Simcha, who had been ill for a long time, in hope that the sea air would help. Shimshon died on 22 Shevat 5674 (given as 18 February 1914 in the Breslov account; the vault frontmatter records 2 March 1914 [?]) and was buried on the Mount of Olives (breslev.org). The vault's MyHeritage note adds that he was excommunicated by R. Dovid'l Twersky of Skver for becoming a Breslover Hasid, that the [[Soshe Greenberg (b.1869)|Greenberg]] family remained Hasidim of Skver, and that the family broke apart as a result — context consistent with, though not detailed in, the Breslov memorial itself. ## Research *(your reasoning — preserved across every rebuild)* - Breslov memorial biography ("Rabbi Shimshon Berditshever"), translated from [breslev.org](https://www.breslev.org/memorial-days/%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91/) (WebFetch, 2026-07-04): confirms Berdichev residence; poverty then a shop; ran a cheder and hired Shmuel-Heschel Friedman (c. 1897–98) to teach writing; facilitated Friedman's aliyah via R. Yisrael Karduner in Uman; wrote in 1904 of his own wish to emigrate; made aliyah Tammuz 5666 (July 1906) with wife and children Avraham (16), Yehuda (6), Simcha (4), Ezra (1) and a daughter, eldest son remaining in Berdichev; Jerusalem residences on Jewish Street then Batei Teiman; came to Jaffa winter 1913 with ailing son Simcha; died 22 Shevat 5674 (page gives 18 Feb 1914), buried Mount of Olives. This source renders the eldest son's name as "Naftali (Neta)"; the MyHeritage biography/vault use "Netta" ([[Nutta Cholodenko Iserov (b.1886)]]). - 1897 Berdichev revision list, [JewishGen image](https://data.jewishgen.org/imagedata/ukraine/DAKO_384-15_1897census_Berdichev_district/384-15-23/275.jpg): household as summarized in the MyHeritage biography — Shimshon; wife Sosya bat Nuta; sons Nuta, Abram; daughter Beyla; mother-in-law Sura bat Ayzik. (Image itself not machine-readable via fetch; relying on the MyHeritage transcription, not re-read.) ## Evidence ## Open questions