\"Евреи хлеба не сеют, евреи в лавке торгуют\".

11:38 Dec 10, 2016 

The basic, and most influential, legal prescription concerning Jews in Eastern Europe (and throughout the whole continent) banned them from owning land. This policy remained in force from the Middle Ages until sporadic legislation—beginning in the late eighteenth century and culminating in the twentieth—permitted Jews to own land. This ban prevented Jews from making their living from agricultural activity whether as peasants or as landowners, two of the most important positions in the feudal social structure.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Economic_Life