Receiving Semicha in 1908, he served for twenty four years as chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Velizh, Russia.

Rabbi Poupko was twice tried in 1930s for defying the religious policies of the Soviet Union and was sentenced to two years in a Siberian prison.

Rabbi Poupko immigrated to the US in 1931, first serving congregations in Haverhill, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island.

He was an honorary president and a member of the executive board of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada.

Their four oldest sons were sent to study in the Israel Meir Kagan's (Chofetz Chaim) yeshiva in Radin, and indeed many of Rabbi Poupko's children went on to play a pivotal role within the Jewish world.