Yekiel was born in 1894. Yekiel's father was Herco SZEPS and his mother was Sara Rachel MARKOWLECKA. His paternal grandparents were Mirl SZEPS and Fiszi WALD. He had two brothers and four sisters, and also a sibling of unknown gender, named Fiszel, Moshe, Dora, Roza, Ita, Chaja and Tobcia. He was the third oldest of the eight children. He died at the age of 26 in 1920.