[1] Born Pavolaki Krushevan into a family of impoverished Russianized Moldavian aristocrats[citation needed] in the village of Gindeshty, Soroksky, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Ghindești, Florești, Moldova), where he completed four grades of school.

Sarah alleged that her brother and her parents "beat her and threatened to drive her from their home" after they discovered her relationship with Chaim.

Sarah and Chaim fled Russia due to the threats, settling in Baltimore, Maryland, US.

From 1887 to 1896, he worked as a journalist at the newspapers Minsky Listok (Минский листок, "The Minsk Post"), Vilensky Vestnik (Виленский вестник, "The Vilna News"), and Bessarabsky Vestnik (Бессарабский вестник, "The Bessarabia News").

In 1903 a riot started after an incident on 6 February when a Christian Russian boy, Mikhail Rybachenko, was found murdered in the town of Dubossary (now Dubăsari), about 25 miles north of Kishinev.