On Sunday afternoons, the Lubavitcher Rebbe

would stand outside the door of his office to

greet and bestow a blessing upon anyone who
came to see him. He would often stand for hours
as thousands of people filed by, many of them
seeking a blessing or advice about a personal
matter or a spiritual dilemma. The Rebbe was
once asked how he had the strength to stand all
day, sometimes for seven or eight hours, to
accommodate everyone. The Rebbe beamed and
replied: “When you’re counting diamonds you
don’t get tired.”

The Rebbe Rashab was once asked by a

Chassid: “Why do you so emphasize the quality
and value of simple Jews; how can they be
compared to the obvious greatness of the
esteemed scholars and the pious?” Knowing that
the Chassid was a diamond merchant, the Rebbe
asked him to display several diamonds of
different values. The Chassid complied. Though
he was surprised at the request, he knew that the
Rebbe’s wishes had deeper meaning. The Rebbe
studied the diamonds for a while, picked up one
of them and exclaimed: “Ah! This must be the
most valuable of the bunch. Am I correct?” The
Chassid did not want to contradict the Rebbe
even though this particular stone was not the
most precious. The Rebbe persisted: “Is it or is
it not?” The Chassid relented and said no. “How
could that be? It looks so beautiful. So large and
bright.” “Well,” the Chassid continued, “only a
trained eye can appreciate the true value of a
diamond. The naked eye is unable to discern the
diamond’s worth—its cut, carats, clarity and
color.” The Rebbe smiled and said: “My dear
friend, the same—and even more so—is true
with souls. The naked eye cannot see the value
of souls. One needs a trained eye to be able to
distinguish the true value of a soul.”
Why diamonds? A Rebbe’s every utterance is
absolutely precise. Why did the Rebbe choose
this particular metaphor to demonstrate the
value of souls?

The answer becomes clear upon examining the

nature of a diamond and the process used in
producing the precious stone.

Diamonds are as old as the universe itself. Most

of them are found deep beneath the earth’s
surface and need to be excavated from molten
rock, called kimberlite. On the average, more
than 20 tons of kimberlite must be processed in
order to procure just one diamond.

After the surrounding rock is crushed, what

remains is the diamond in rough. The rough
diamond is then cut by sawing or cleaving
(splitting) along the grain of the stone. The
pieces are then mounted in a fast-turning lathe
where the gem is shaped roughly by a diamond-
tipped tool, followed by the bruiting process,
which rounds out the stones. Finally the
diamonds are polished, allowing all of their
facets to emerge. The stone is then placed in a
holder (a dop), and facets are ground on the
surface by a spinning disk bearing a paste made
of diamond dust and olive oil. The cutting of
each facet requires changing the position of the
stone in the dop. The final product is a brilliant
crystal that refracts, reflects and disperses light.
Most diamonds are polyhedrons, meaning they
have many surfaces (facets), which are
converted in the polishing process into many
more facets, the most popular being the
“brilliant cut,” which has 58 facets.

The value of a diamond is determined by four

characteristics: carat (weight), color, clarity and
cut.
Among the diamond’s unique qualities is that it
is the hardest of all known substances, and it
therefore can only be cut with another diamond
or diamond dust. “Diamond” comes from the
Greek term “adamas,” which means
“unconquerable.” A diamond is also known for
its outstanding brilliance and fire.

Every phenomenon in life is our teacher, the

Baal Shem Tov tells us. So what can we learn
from a diamond?

By using the analogy of a diamond to describe

the value of each man, woman and child, the
Rebbe is telling us that regardless of externals,
every person is a true diamond, the toughest
substance in existence. Everyone has a divine
neshama, a pure soul, and regardless of behavior
and outward appearance, every neshama
remains intact. Unconquerable.

However, God wanted the pure neshama to

descend into our material world and
demonstrate its power and glory and to
illuminate the universe. He uprooted the soul
from its natural spiritual habitat and embedded
the diamond-neshama in the hard rock of harsh
materialism, under layers upon layers that
initially shroud and obscure the fire and
brilliance, and even the very existence of the
soul.

Our immersion in material survival makes it

difficult for us to recognize the spirituality
within. The majority of our time—more than 20
tons of rock compared to a one diamond—is
preoccupied with work, eating, sleeping, paying
our bills, entertaining ourselves. No wonder our
inexperienced eyes don’t see diamonds. But the
trained eye sees the diamond in others. The
Rebbe—the most shining diamond of them all,
whose selfless personality is a transparent
channel and expression of Godliness—sees the
true value even when covered over by
mountains of rock.

To fulfill its purpose, the diamond needs to be

excavated, cut and polished. This is the mission
with which every one of us has been charged.
The first step is gaining the awareness that in
the hard rock is hidden a precious diamond. We
must identify the neshama-diamond and reach
for it with unconditional love. The second step
is excavation and cutting: clearing away the
externals and allowing the diamond to emerge.
To reveal the diamond in a raw world of rock
requires bittul—peeling away the outer layers,
shedding unrefined habits, eliminating the
inappropriate—allowing for the diamond to
surface. Some stones need to be sawed, others
cleaved. They then need to be rounded out and
polished through Torah and mitzvot, each
mitzvah allowing another facet in us to shine.
And finally this process yields the completed
diamond that radiates and beautifies this world.

Every diamond-soul has its own unique

personality, its own chaine (the sum of the
Hebrew letters (gematria) of chaine equals 58:
the 58 facets of a “brilliant cut”)—its strengths
(carats), clarity, color and cut—and it must be
treated in kind, befitting its personal
individuality. Each stone needs to be cut
precisely, with the greatest sensitivity, a most
beautiful cut uniquely appropriate for this
particular stone.

We are all diamond cutters. The Rebbe, being

the “master cutter,” trains us all in the process.
How appropriate that only a diamond can cut a
diamond. Only one soul can reach another. No
machines, no other powerful forces can do the
job. Take the strongest body, the strongest
material force, and you can cut and shape any
other piece of matter. But not a diamond. The
physical body cannot touch the ethereal spirit. A
soul, on the other hand, even if it is only soul
“dust,” can reach and touch another soul.

“When you’re counting diamonds, you don’t get

tired.” The Rebbe isn’t just telling us that
everyone is a diamond, he is also telling us why
we must wait patiently, untiringly— because
this tenacious attitude will bring the diamond to
the surface. The Rebbe is also directing us as to
what we must do, what is our mission in this
world: we must recognize that all people are
diamonds and help actualize every individual’s
precious potential, by excavating, cutting and
polishing and revealing the brilliance within,
allowing every man, woman and child’s inner
personality to emerge and illuminate the world
in which we live.

Why did G-d create diamonds? Perhaps to have

an example in our lives of the value and
preciousness of the soul; a soul that lies deeply
embedded in rock and which, when it emerges,
shines with unprecedented brilliance and fire.