Habima was founded as an amateur troup by Nahum Lazarevich Tsemakh (Hebrew: Naḥum Tsemaḥ; 1887–1939) in Białystok (then in Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire) in 1912.

However, the Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to Habima, branding it counter-revolutionary.

[3] In 1926, the theatre left the Soviet Union to tour abroad, in countries including Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.

[6] In the 1928–29 season there, the Habima Players presented two plays, both under the direction of Aleksei Dikiy, from the Moscow Art Theatre.

[1] The first production, Ha-otsar (The Treasure), a translation of Sholem Aleichem's Yiddish play Der Oytser, premiered on December 29, 1928.

[11] More than NIS 100 million was invested in the makeover, which has added 500 square meters of floor space and three new rehearsal rooms.