In 1914 Shtif returned to Vilna, and became the editor of the publication, "Di Vokh" (The Week). Also in 1914, he started the Yiddish children's series "פֿאַר אונדזערע קינדער" ("For Our Children"). While living in St. Petersburg during the years 1915-1918, he worked for the Jewish aid organization, YEKOPO (Evreiskii Komitet Pomoshchi Zhertvam Voiny, Jewish Committee to Aid Victims of the War), editing its journal, and was active in Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah (Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia) and with instituting Yiddish as the language of instruction in Jewish schools. In 1917, after the February Revolution, Shtif became one of the founders of the revived Folkspartey (People’s Party), whose newspaper, "Folksblat", he co-published with Israel Efroikin. In 1918, Shtif moved to Kiev, where he was active in YEKOPO and also devoted himself to journalism. His writings, including the pamphlet "Yidn un yidish, oder ver zaynen “yidishistn” un vos viln zey?" (Jews and Yiddish, or Who Are the “Yiddishists” and What Do They Want?, 1919), concerned the Jewish future in the post-war world, which Shtif envisioned as a brotherhood of nations that included Jews as an autonomous national collective with a highly developed Yiddish culture.