Gift Exchange in Jacob Sapir’s Journey to the East (1858-1863)

David Malkiel will speak about the experience of travelers who travel far from home for extended periods of time, without their families. He will focus on the travels of Rabbi Jacob Sapir, who traveled from Jerusalem to Egypt and points east in 1858-1863 to raise funds for the Holy Land. Malkiel will examine Sapir`s account of his sojourn in India, Asia and Australia, to explore the nature of his interaction with the Diaspora communities he visited. Specifically, Malkiel will analyze the kinds of gifts Sapir gave and received during his travels, for, as he will show, Sapir and others like him viewed themselves not only as the recipients of gifts from their Diaspora brethren, but as those who endow these communities with gifts of their own. The perspective of gift exchange, a well-known paradigm in sociology, affords a new perspective on this particular type of traveler and on analogous groups as well.