In 1912, during a guest performance with a Russian theater group in Bialystok, Bertonov encountered Nahum Zemach [he], later known as the founder of the Hebrew-language Habima Theatre.

[2] Bertonov became a member of an amateur Hebrew theatre group that Zemach had organized in Bialystok at that time – one of the forerunners of what later became Habima.

[2] When Zemach arranged for his group to perform at the 11th Zionist Congress in Vienna, in 1913, in order to win support for his idea of establishing a Hebrew art theatre, Bertonov directed the play – a Hebrew translation of Osip Dymov's Russian-language historical drama The Eternal Wanderer.

[3] After the performance at the congress failed to attract or engage a significant audience, the group was left without financial resources, and Zemach withdrew due to illness.

[4] Nearly a decade later, after Zemach had successfully established Habima in Moscow (in 1918), Bertonov applied to join the tight-knit, idealistic Habima troupe; some members initially opposed his admission, out of skepticism that such a long-established professional actor would have the open-mindedness and readiness for experimentation that the drama collective required of its members, but with Zemach's support, he was admitted in 1922.