P. was born on 30 August 1840 in Kapulits, Minsk Gubernia, White Russia, into an [yekhus'diker] family, and under the influence of his education he went away for twenty-two years away to Zhitomir, where he entered into the rabbinical school, and he completed [his studies] in 1865 in Vilna.

Later he became one of the prominent representatives of the educational movement in Russia, and he participated in the Hebrew and Russian-Yiddish press. He also composed learning books in Yiddish.

The significance of this in the history of the Yiddish theatre is his memoirs "Di ershte idshe drame un der ershter yudisher spektakel" ( my memories about A. Goldfaden), published i "Pnks" (Vilna 1919).

In 1918 P. passed away in Odessa.
 

• Zalmen Reyzen -- "Leksikon fun der yidisher literatur (Lexicon of Yiddish Literature)", Vol. II, pp. 868-70

• B. Gorin -- "Di Geshikhte fun idishn teater (The History of the Yiddish Theatre)", Vol. I, pp. 98, 137-143.