First a member of Herut[note 3] around 1901, he joined in December 1904 the new Zionist Socialist Workers Party to whose Central Committee he was elected in Odessa.
In April 1918, he was appointed Minister for Jewish Affairs in the Ukrainian People's Republic, replacing Fareynikte Moishe Zilberfarb.
He was succeeded briefly by Solomon Goldelman, then in January 1919 by Abraham Revutzky of Poale Zion.
[3][2][4] In October 1918, he was amongst the founders of an important Yiddish publishing house Folks-Farlag, initiated by intellectuals affiliated to the Folkspartei, like himself.
[5] In 1925, he moved to Riga, where he published the daily Yiddish newspapers Dos Folk and Freemorgn.