The Jews of Rozavlea earned their livelihood with difficulty. Very few were well-off Jews who were merchants and middlemen of grain, fruit and cattle. The vast majority of the Jews of Rozavlea lived by the work of their hands in small farms in order to provide for the household their needs, or had small-scale business like grocery stores, clothing, or they were tradesmen, tailors, shoemakers, tinsmiths, blacksmiths, and so on. Several of the Jews of Rozavlea were excelling personalities who were also known outside their area, such as Reb Shmuel Eliahu Stern. He was an expert scholar, who studied in great depth to the point that the Rabbi of Slotfina (Yiddish for Solotvino) one of the geniuses of the country, expressed his great astonishment at the exceptional phenomenon that a busy lay Jew who was a successful businessman was able to study in depth just like one of the great, expert Torah giants.