Jacob Gelber was born in the Galician city of Krystynopil,[1] on 12 October 1796,[2] in the year following the Third Partition of Poland by the Russian Empire.

[1] There he encountered a progressive Jewish youth circle, and began studying Hebrew, German, philosophy, and (in particular) mathematics.

[1] He worked as a travelling private tutor,[1] teaching Hebrew subjects and mathematics in wealthy households throughout Ukraine.

[2] In 1835, Eichenbaum opened a private school for Jewish children in Odesa,[1] which had become an important educational centre for Ukrainian Jews.

[5] In 1857, he published a Hebrew arithmetic textbook, Ḥokhmat ha-Shi'urim,[6] which he had adapted from a work in the French language.