Following Volozhin's death in 1821, Zundel made trips to study with Rabbi Akiva Eiger.

He and his wife, Rochel Rivkah, had two daughters, Tziviah and Heniah, and a son, Aryeh Leib.

Zundel did not accept any rabbinical positions and ran a small business which produced only a meager living.

In 1841, he appointed his son-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Salant to the court and soon made him the head of it, a position that he held for almost seventy years until his death in 1909.

Zundel lived in a small one-room apartment and sustained himself and his family by selling vinegar, but spent most of the day and night in the Menachem Zion Synagogue, which was completed in 1837.