Diamonds and Eternal Love (Part 1)
By Sara Esther Crispe: May 7, 2014: Category Decoding the Tradition, Inspirations
Introduction
There is a beautiful story of a young boy who set out on one day to work with his father. The family was extremely poor but they would collect bags of rocks and then sell them. The labor was hard and taxing yet the father did what he had to do. One day when he went to fill his bag, he saw something sparkling. He knew that what he found was valuable and he was pretty sure that he had discovered diamonds and recognized that their worth could change his life and the life of his family. As he filled his bag, another man came along as well. He likewise started to fill his bag with the rocks. On their walk back the two men journeyed together.
The entire time there was not a word of complaint from the father whereas the other man spoke bitterly as to how heavy his bag was and how much he hated his lot in life needing to do this. When they arrived at their destination the son asked the father how it was that he was able to carry his bag with such ease and the other man had such difficulty when the bags were of similar weight and the men of similar statute. The father smiled and replied that his bag was not heavy because he knew what it was filled with. Knowing he was carrying a load of precious and valuable diamonds outweighed the physical weight. The other man was very likely carrying diamonds as well. But because he didn’t know it, to him it was simply a bag filled with rocks, weighing him down.
There are diamonds all around us. There are diamonds within each and every one of us. The goal is to find them, excavate them, polish them and let them shine. At their root, diamonds are coal and coal is concentrated carbon. All organic compounds contain carbon, as it is the fire of life. As the famous statement goes: “A diamond is simply a lump of coal that did extremely well under pressure.”
We know that there has been a connection to Jews and diamonds for centuries. As a people we have been involved with diamonds through trade, mining, selling and owning of diamonds. We have historically invested in diamonds, unfortunately, because our need to escape with a currency that is small, easily hidden and valuable no matter where we ended up. And Jews have worked and been successful in the diamond industry as the trade is highly dependent on trust and throughout the generations Jews have proven their trustworthiness and honesty. To this day the deal is sealed, not only in Israel and amongst Jewish diamond dealers, but even worldwide, with the words “mazal u’bracha” meaning “with good fortune and blessing.” No contract. No signature. Just one’s word.
After all, the Hebrew word for diamond is yahalom which is composed of the same letters as milah which means “word.” And just like a diamond is forever, the famous trademark of De Beers from 1947, the first diamond cartel, so too should one’s word be. When we say something we give it permanence, and our words should reflect our intentions and our trust. And so all that is needed for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, to be assured is one’s word. Mazal u’bracha, it should be with good fortune, and it should be a blessing!
In Part 2 we will explore how there is more than just a connection between Jews and diamonds, but an intrinsic connection between Judaism and diamonds.
http://www.interinclusion.org/inspirations/diamonds-and-eternal-love-part-2/
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