Yehoshua Segal (d.1732) - The Bernstein-Dahne Genealogy Wiki

# Yehoshua Segal (d.1732)  > 🔵 **Bernstein — Ozzy's side** · Relationship to Ozzy: **8x great-grandfather** **Died** ~1732 **Parents** [[Shmuel Segal (b.1650)]] · [[Elka (5)]] **Spouse** [[Unknown Babad]] **Children** [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]] · [[Shaul (d.1776)]] · [[Yitzhak Segal (d.1740)]] · [[Trayna Segal]] · [[Avraham Segal]] · [[Unknown Segal (2)]] **Siblings** [[Reizl Segal (d.1767)]] · [[Nathan]] *GEDCOM I518749 · Bernstein tree · synced 2026-07-01*  ## Narrative Yehoshua Segal — R. Yehoshua ha-Levi — was a rabbinic gaon of the early eighteenth century and the founder, in the tree, of the [[Ciechanowiec]] branch of a distinguished Levite line. "Segal" marks the Levite descent (*s'gan levi*); he was the son of R. Shmuel ha-Levi, av beit din of Międzyrzecz and Rzeszów, in a line reaching back through R. Abraham and R. Natan ha-Levi, and he married into the house of R. Heschel of Kraków, taking as his wife the daughter of the *parnas* R. Issachar Berish of Kraków — the grandfather for whom his own son would be named.[^lineage] His career moved across the rabbinates of the south-eastern borderlands. He first sat as av beit din of Dobromil, where in 1713 he gave, at Jarosław, an approbation to the Torah-work *Brit Shalom*; from there he came to Ciechanowiec, and finally to Siemiatycze, for a time holding both of the latter seats.[^career] His approbations trace the path and the years: signing at Ciechanowiec in 1728 for *Hukei Derekh*, and at Siemiatycze in 1732 for *Yizmarekh Kavod* and for *Bet Shimon Shlomo*, where he is styled "the great famous rabbi, Morenu R. Yehoshua ha-Levi of Kraków, av beit din and head of the yeshiva residing in the holy community of Ciechanowiec, trustee of the Four Lands."[^haskamot] That last title was no honorific merely: Ciechanowiec was one of only three Podlasie communities to hold self-governing *glil* (district) status and to sit in the Council of Four Lands, and Yehoshua stood at the head of its court. A civil trace of that office survives — the 1726 ordinance, settled at Sterdyń, that a Council commission drew up to divide the Jewish poll-tax of the town of Wysokie between the Węgrów and Ciechanowiec districts: it was signed by "the Ciechanowiec rabbi, **Jehoszua ben Szmuel**."[^sterdyn] He died around 1732 — the year of his last approbations — and was succeeded in the Ciechanowiec rabbinate, and in the trusteeship of the Four Lands, by his son [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]], through whom the line descends to Ozzy.[^succession] His other children in the tree include [[Shaul (d.1776)]], [[Yitzhak Segal (d.1740)]], [[Trayna Segal]] and [[Avraham Segal]]. [^lineage]: Levite (Segal = ha-Levi) line: son of R. Shmuel ha-Levi, av beit din of Międzyrzecz and Rzeszów, of the line of R. Abraham and R. Natan ha-Levi; married the daughter of R. Issachar Berish of Kraków (son of R. Heschel of Kraków), *parnas* of the Council of Four Lands — the namesake grandfather of his son [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]]. Genealogy per *Daat liNevonim* ([Google Books, p.12](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%93%D7%A2%D7%AA_%D7%9C%D7%A0%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D/sY2uQiOlQnMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA12)); and *Binyan Shaul* (R. Saul ha-Levi, a grandson), p.48, per the family MyHeritage biography. [^career]: Av beit din successively of Dobromil, then [[Ciechanowiec]], then Siemiatycze (serving Ciechanowiec and Siemiatycze together for a time); trustee of the Council of Four Lands. Per *Binyan Shaul* (grandson's book), family MyHeritage biography; the Ciechanowiec offices are corroborated by the Ciechanowiec community history read directly (see [^sterdyn]). [^haskamot]: Approbations (*haskamot*): 1713 at Jarosław, as av beit din of Dobromil, to *Brit Shalom* (on the Torah); 1728 at Ciechanowiec to *Hukei Derekh*; 1732 at Siemiatycze to *Yizmarekh Kavod*; and to *Bet Shimon Shlomo* (1732), where he signs "הסכמת הרב הגדול המפורסם כמהר"ר יהושע הלוי מקראקא אב"ד ור"מ החונה בק"ק שעכנפצי נאב"י דד"א" — "the great famous rabbi Morenu R. Yehoshua ha-Levi of Kraków, av beit din and head of yeshiva residing in the holy community of Ciechanowiec, trustee of the Four Lands" ([Google Books, *Bet Shimon Shlomo*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%94/rNuLQZm4zsIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP5)). Approbation dates/works per the family MyHeritage biography and *Kitvei HaGri*; the *Bet Shimon Shlomo* title-line is quoted on this profile. Full-view reads of the individual approbation pages remain to be done (see Open questions). [^sterdyn]: Ciechanowiec community history (*Z dziejów Gminy Żydowskiej w Ciechanowcu*, printed pp.18–19), **read directly** ([name.lomza.pl PDF](https://name.lomza.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ciechanowiec_ksiega_DRUK_OK_maly.pdf)): the 1726 Council-of-Four-Lands commission ordinance dividing the Wysokie Jewish poll-tax between the Węgrów and Ciechanowiec districts, settled at Sterdyń, "was signed by the Ciechanowiec rabbi Jehoszua ben Szmuel" (translated into Polish by the sztadlan Nisan Judkowski). Confirms Yehoshua ben Shmuel as sitting Ciechanowiec rabbi in 1726 and the community's *glil* (district) status. [^succession]: Ciechanowiec community history (read directly, [name.lomza.pl PDF](https://name.lomza.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ciechanowiec_ksiega_DRUK_OK_maly.pdf), printed pp.18–19) and the *Tzafunot* biographical note ([HebrewBooks 26645, pgnum 100](https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=26645&st=&pgnum=100)): his son [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]] "filled his father's place" in the Ciechanowiec rabbinate and the Four-Lands trusteeship. In the Darchei Noam approbation Issachar signs as "son of the late Morenu **Jehoszua Segał (Lewita)**, residing in Ciechanowiec." ## Research *(your reasoning — preserved across every rebuild)* - **Narrative written 2026-07-06.** Directly read: the **Ciechanowiec community history** (name.lomza.pl PDF, printed pp.18–19) — the **1726 Sterdyń poll-tax ordinance signed by "Jehoszua ben Szmuel," Ciechanowiec rabbi**, and the Darchei Noam approbation naming Issachar as "son of the late Jehoszua Segał (Lewita)." These corroborate the offices and the succession to his son [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]]. His *haskamot* (1713 Dobromil / 1728 Ciechanowiec / 1732 Siemiatycze) and the *Binyan Shaul* biography are carried from the profile's transcription / the family MyHeritage biography — the individual Hebrew pages were **not** read in full this pass (flagged below). - **Levite (ha-Levi) line** — the same line that, through his son Issachar Berish, is claimed by the Łęczna **Balter** family (see [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]] and [[Berek Balter (b.1807)]]). ## Evidence - **1726 Sterdyń poll-tax ordinance — signed by "Jehoszua ben Szmuel," rabbi of Ciechanowiec.** Council-of-Four-Lands commission dividing the Wysokie Jewish poll-tax between the Węgrów and Ciechanowiec districts. Read in the Ciechanowiec community history (printed p.18). [name.lomza.pl PDF](https://name.lomza.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ciechanowiec_ksiega_DRUK_OK_maly.pdf) ## Open questions - **"Jacob Frank herem, Brody 1717" is chronologically impossible — treat as an error.** The profile's MyHeritage note that Yehoshua "was one of the signatories who put Jacob Frank in herem, in Brody in 1717" cannot be right: Jacob Frank was born ~1726 and Frankism erupted in the 1750s, after Yehoshua's death (~1732). The 1717 Brody event was almost certainly an **anti-Sabbatian** herem (or the note conflates Yehoshua with his son [[Issakhar Berisz Segal (b.1690)]], who did sign the 1756 anti-Frankist herem at Brody). Do not carry "Frank 1717" as fact. - **Haskama pages to read in full.** *Brit Shalom* (1713), *Hukei Derekh* (1728), *Yizmarekh Kavod* (1732), *Bet Shimon Shlomo* (1732) — a signed-in Google-Books/HebrewBooks full-view pass should transcribe his actual approbation wording and confirm each date and title. - **Death date.** "~1732" is inferred from his last approbations; a precise date/place is not documented here. - **Birth year / place.** Frontmatter gives born_place Kraków, no birth year; unverified. - **Additional MyHeritage-bio scan leads (not yet read/incorporated; preserved 2026-07-06):** [here](https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=67722#p=53&fitMode=fitwidth&hlts=&ocr=%D7%A1%D7%A2%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%90%D7%98%D7%99%D7%98%D7%A9) · [here](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A7%D7%94%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99/ZPKfAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A2+%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%99+%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%90&dq=%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A2+%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%99+%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%90&printsec=frontcover) · [here](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%91%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%94/CggbAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A2+%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%99+%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%90&dq=%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A2+%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%99+%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%90&printsec=frontcover)