Poet: he wrote in Yiddish. He began to publish in 1917, in the Jewish newspapers of Kiev. In 1923 he went to Germany, where he joined various left-wing groups devoted to Jewish art and literature. He was influenced by Zionist ideas and lived for several years in Eretz Israel. In 1926 he returned to the USSR. In the 1930s he became one of the most popular Yiddish poets. He took an active part in the formation of a so-called "Soviet Jewish literature". During the war he was on of the founders of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. He was arrested in 1948 and executed.