His wife was called Miriam.
Rav Yehoshua was a talmid of the Maharam of Lublin and a talmid of Rav Yehoshua Falk, the mechaber of the Sem”a. He served as the head of the rabbinical court of Lvov outside the city. He authored two famous works: Maginei Shlomo on the Talmud, where he defends the opinion of Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) against the authors of the Tosfos, and the responsa Pnei Yehoshua (not to be confused with the commentary on the Talmud of the same name, authored by his grandson and namesake).
His son Rav Moshe’s daughter, Teivel, married Rav Shmuel Shmelke Margolis, Av Bais Din of Elkish. Their son was Rav Elozor Roke’ach of Brody and Rav of Amsterdam, mechaber of Maasei Roke’ach.
Rav Yehoshua Heschel served in Grodno, Premisla, Lvov and finally in Cracow. Later in his life, he accepted the position of Rosh Yeshiva in Cracow alongside Rav YomTov Lipman Heller, the mechaber of Tosfos YomTov, who served as the Av Bais Din.
As he lay on his deathbed, he turned to the heads of the community who surrounded him, saying, “Make way for Rashi, whom I defended, for he is coming to escort me to the Next World.”
He was laid to rest in the ancient Bais HaChaim adjacent to the Rema shul, near such Tzaddikim as the Rebbe Reb Heschel and the Bach.
His son Rav Moshe’s daughter, Teivel, married Rav Shmuel Shmelke Margolis, Av Bais Din of Elkish. Their son was Rav Elozor Roke’ach of Brody and Rav of Amsterdam, mechaber of Maasei Roke’ach.
