Background
He was the son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, rabbi of Novarodok and author of the work Arukh HaShulkhan. Epstein grew up in Novarodok, where his father was the communal rabbi, but moved to the city of Pinsk after his marriage and lived there until his death, apart from a period from 1923 to 1926, which he spent in the United States of America looking (unsuccessfully) for a rabbinic position.