In 1913, he was appointed chief rabbi of Harbin, and tasked with overseeing Jewish cultural, educational, and social activities.
[1] In 1915, detractors of Kiselev reported his efforts to aid German refugees in Harbin as collaboration with the enemy.
[2] Following the death of the notorious bandit kingpin Ataman Woliewski, it was discovered that he had been planning to abduct Kiselev, with the hope of exacting a large ransom from the Jewish community.
[3] In December 1937, at the first annual Far Eastern Jewish Conference, he was declared ‘Chief Rabbi of the Far East’.
[4] As leader of the Harbin chapter of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, Kiselev assisted many wartime Jewish refugees who had fled German-occupied Europe.