 His father Mordechai worked as a shoemaker and his mother Malka as a housekeeper.Kopel and his siblings, Moshe (Meshke') who was two and a half years his elder, and Chava (Chavale’) who was four years younger, spoke Yiddish at home, but simultaneously studied Hebrew at their school which was part of the Tarbut educational network.Kopel was active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement.