Josef was born in 1855. Josef's father was Yankel SZEPS and his mother was Szejwa. His paternal grandparents were Itzhak (Isaac) SZEPS and Tila. He had four brothers and three sisters, named Chemja, Szmuel, Morchal, Aba, Radjzi, Czarna and Ruchi. He was the fourth youngest of the eight children. He died at the age of 30 in 1885.