He was born on July 1, 1886 in Karelicze near Nowogródek. He grew up with traditional religious education at home and was educated by his father Jakub Beniamin Kacenelson. My father was the director of cheders in Łódź and Zgierz. He was a writer. Icchak gained secular knowledge as a self-taught teacher. He collaborated with “Ha-Cefira” and “Ha-Dor” magazines and with Jidisze Bibliotek after moving to Warsaw. After a few years, he moved to Łódź and ran a Hebrew elementary school. He founded the first secular Hebrew Gymnasium.

 

Icchak's debut as a writer was in 1904. In 1909, he was made famous by a poem written in prose in Hebrew, entitled "Bi-g (e) Vulot Lita" ("Within Lithuania"). In the following years, he published several more volumes of poetry written in Hebrew. The year 1928 was a breakthrough for the poet - it was then that he started managing the Hebrew Drama Studio "Habima" in Łódź together with Icchak Lewi.