He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving to Eretz Yisrael in 1878.

[4] Yehoshua Leib Diskin was born on December 8, 1818,[2] in Grodno, then part of the Russian Empire.

She had a very strong mind, and came from a prestigious family descended from Yechezkel Landau (the "Nodah bi-Yehudah") and Joshua Zeitlin.

[7] He held the line against attempts by maskilim (Jewish Enlightenment) to introduce secular institutions to Jerusalem.

[11] Diskin's second wife, Sarah (Sonia Rotner),[6][12] known as the Brisker Rebbetzin, brought 40,000 rubles into the marriage which was used for the support of this institution.