@Justicar
"Of 110 tobacco factories in the *Pale of Settlement in 1897, 83 were owned by Jews, and over 80% of the workers were Jewish. This participation continued into the 20th century, and the Jewish tobacco workers were active in the ranks of socialism."
@Justicar
The leaders of the industry, the “gangster class,” were predominantly Jewish; in “Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition,” author Marni Davis says that 50% were Jewish, 25% Italian and around 10% were Irish. Many American Jews were drawn to the illegal alcohol business
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-history-of-jewish-bootleggers/