On The Road; Jewish Peddlers And Jewish Migrations

Long before department stores and online shopping, Jewish peddlers carried the marketplace on their backs. Between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, millions of Jewish men left home armed with little more than a pack of goods, later upgrading to horse-drawn carts and wagons, as they traveled from door to door, farm to farm, and mining camp to mining camp across the globe. From the United States and Canada to Australia, South Africa, the British Isles, and beyond, these itinerant merchants became unlikely pioneers, laying the foundations for new Jewish communities while helping Jews integrate into rapidly changing societies. Though history rarely remembers their individual names, their collective journey transformed the Jewish world. Join us as we uncover the forgotten story of the peddlers who helped shape modern Jewish history.

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Hasia Diner is Professor Emerita, New York University. She is the author of numerous books in American Jewish history, most recently, Opening Doors: The Unexpected Alliance Between the Irish and the Jews

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