Barzilay also studies the issue of water as a factor shaping social dynamics, including several works of rivers as enabling and forming modes of medieval travel and communication. He investigates Jewish reliance on river travel in the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, focusing on toll stations and river travel, the political struggles that evolved around them in the thirteenth century, and their influence on the cost of movement. This study also focuses on the Jewish experience of river travel, emphasizing its significance in their daily lives and cultural endeavors. It aims to promote the incorporation of geographical perspectives into the analysis of social history, which can open valuable avenues for future research.

 Image credit: Woodcut by Michel Wolgemut in Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chronicarum (Nürnberg, 1493), fols. 90v-91r. License:  CC BY-NC 4.0