Born on 21 September 1877 in Radzyn, Siedlce Gubernia, Poland. His father was a restaurant owner, who had to optgn his wife due to his epikursus. Z.'s mother took him then across to Warsaw, wherein she took her son, who helped her in a haberdashery business that she had opened up there.

Z. learned in a cheder, a Bet HaMedrash, and some other subjects. Attending the Polish theatre, there was quarreling behind the scenes(?), and it came to Z. a desire for the stage, and together with his friends, the late actors Shapiro and Weiner, "made the theatre in private houses, then Z. left from home and traveled around with "amateurs", playing in "Treyfniak" and in "Bar Kochba". He returned home after two years again and toured for almost a year with Rabinovitsh's troupe, later he sang in a quartet with Herman Berman in a garden in Lodz, then entered into a chorus of Fishzon, and after three months he performed as an actor in "Yoshke Yoshevitsh" in Shakespeare's "Dgl mkhnh yehuda".

After acting for four years with Fishzon, Z. was hired by Zandberg in Lodz, where he acted for three years, later he acted in dramatic repertoire with Meeerson across Russia, then with Sam Adler and Spivakovski and a single year in the "United Dramatic Troupe" under the direction of Kaminski, where his acting drew attention in Gordin's repertoire.