rambam’s brother chose to become a merchant. He was raised in the same family as Rambam, so surely he had an option to zitz and learn.
passport taken away – I already quoted a sefer that if the czar knew how valuable Torah learning is, he would put a soldier with a bayonet near each Yid, and when the Yid gets distracted by reading YWN, the chayal will kick him with the bayonet.