Born in Krozhe, a province of Kovno, he studied in the Nevyozer Kloiz under Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and in the Volozhin yeshiva under the Netziv.

They attempted to create one central rabbinic authority in America to maintain order in the field of Kashrus and expand Jewish education programs.

Others wanted a return to the days when they could simply trust their own kosher butchers, without the approval of a foreign rabbi, who did not even speak English.

This did not stop the conflict, however, for when the butchers paid his fees, charges were made that the rabbi might certify non-kosher meat simply for the money.

The trusts prevailed and the kosher butchers ended their boycott, but at that point the women of the Lower East Side Jewish community, led by Fanny Levy and Sarah Edelson, held a massive protest.

By May 27, major Orthodox religious leaders had publicly affirmed support for the boycott, and by June 9 the price of meat dropped almost to pre-boycott levels.

[4] Throughout this upheaval in the kosher meat business, which Joseph nominally oversaw for the entire city, the Chief Rabbi himself was sidelined by the stroke he had suffered five years earlier.

[5] Employees of R. Hoe & Company, manufacturer of printing presses, threw water, paper, wood, and iron from the upper floors of the factory at 504 Grand Street.

Recent historical research suggests that the factory workers were mostly Germans, not Irish, and that the police were following standard practice in quelling a riot.

Congregation Beis HaMidrash HaGadol was permitted to bury him in their plot at the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.

With Joseph's death, a succession dispute arose which diluted the office of Chief Rabbi, and the title was rendered effectively worthless.

The dedication ceremony was attended by Mayor William O'Dwyer, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, Councilman Stanley Isaacs, and Captain Joseph's father Lazarus Joseph – a Democratic Party leader who was a six time State Senator and New York City's Comptroller at the time.

This playground was built in part to meet the needs of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, located at the time on Henry Street.