he moved to south africa in 1903, working in pretoria, cape town and johannesburg, but took passage to the united states where he saw prospects for architects after the 1906 san francisco earthquake. when he ran out of money en route, he decided to stay in melbourne. here he was embraced by the local jewish community and soon found his feet again, initially taking up a position with the railway's engineering department where he worked as a draftsman for about three years. he obtained work as a draftsman with fellow jewish architect nahum burnett, and then set up his own office in 1911.