In his youth, while studying in Chişinău to obtain semikhah to become a rabbi, he began to publish his first stories. Starting in 1910, his works, in Yiddish and Hebrew, began to appear in newspapers such as "Rashaphim", "Ha-Shiluach" and "Ha-Tsefirah" and he earned a living by teaching. During those years, he became associated with David Frischmann and Hayim Nahman Bialik, who worked to obtain his release from service in the Imperial Russian Army.