Editor’s Note
This article explores the symbolic significance of the diamond in Jewish tradition, from its representation of the tribe of Zevulun on the High Priest’s breastplate to its interpretation in Hasidic thought.
The Torah describes a beautiful decoration that the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol who served in Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish Temple, used to wear. Before he performed his holy duties, he would don a beautiful gold breastplate inlaid with 12 precious stones, each one representing one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The diamond – yahalom in Hebrew – represented the tribe of Zevulun (Exodus 28:18).
In more modern times, the Baal Shem Tov (1704-1772), who founded the Hasidic branch of Judaism, compared Jewish people to a diamond. The parallels are many: Just as a diamond is rugged and unyielding, so too are the Jewish people, clinging to their faith and way of life despite all odds. And just as a diamond needs to be polished before it shines, each person needs to work hard to bring out their inner diamond and let it shine.
The earliest mentions of trading diamonds are found in 4th century BCE Sanskrit works. Diamonds were first discovered near the Golconda River in India, and for hundreds of years they were traded locally as a highly prized commodity. Two of the earliest recorded diamond merchants outside of India were the Jewish brothers Abraham ben Yashar and Abu Nasr Chesed. Also known by their Arabic names Abu Sa’D Al-Tustari and Abu Nasr Fadl, they seemingly hailed from the large Jewish community in Persia. In the 11th century they’re recorded as working in Egypt, supplying the royal family with luxury goods, including diamonds.
In Europe during the Middle Ages, Jews were well placed to become diamond traders. Restricted to money-lending in many areas, Jews became de facto bankers and pawn brokers to the rich, often receiving gems and other precious objects as payment when debts came due. Some Jews began to focus on gem polishing and trading.
Jewelry-making equipment is relatively small and portable, making it easy for Jews to pack up and move when local authorities crack down on local Jewish communities. Jewish traders also benefited from family connections across Europe and the Middle East, making it easier to conduct business in numerous countries.
The cities of Venice in modern-day Italy and Bruges in modern-day Belgium emerged as Europe’s early diamond trading centers. Both towns boasted large Jewish communities, and Jews became major players in the Medieval diamond-trading industry.
Polished diamonds as we know them only became possible in the 1400s, thanks to an invention by a Jewish diamond merchant named Lodewyk van Berken. Born in the Belgian town of Bruges, he moved to the nearby city of Antwerp – where Netflix’s Rough Diamonds takes place.
Diamonds are the toughest gemstone and are extremely difficult to cut. van Berken invented a polishing wheel coated with a diamond dust mixed with olive oil. Called a scaif, this polishing wheel completely transformed the diamond industry. Instead of rough, dull stones, diamonds suddenly became brilliantly shiny objects. Diamonds became much more popular and Antwerp’s Jewish diamond trading companies – which kept his diamond-polishing technology a tightly-held trade secret – became even more central to the growing diamond industry.
Diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the 1730s, adding to the world’s supply of this increasingly popular gem. However, the world’s diamond trade changed irrevocably in 1867 with a major discovery in present-day South Africa.
Dutch Boers had recently settled the Kaapvaal Craton, near the confluence of the Orange and Vaal Rivers. Displacing the native Griqua people there, the Boers began farming and noticed that their soil was studded with whitish-grey rocks. In 1867 a farmer named Schalk Niekerk picked up a pretty rock that his young son was playing with and scratched it across a window pane. It left a mark, a sure sign that the stone was a diamond.
The rock turned out to be a 21.25 carat diamond, later named the Eureka, and it helped spark a huge diamond rush in the area, near the present-day town of Kimberly.
Amidst the frenzy of thousands of diamond prospectors, diamond syndicates began to form. One prominent miner was a formerly penniless Jew from the Yiddish-speaking East End of London who sailed to South Africa to try his luck. Born Barnett Isaacs, he used to perform as a juggling clown in London’s music halls, and was introduced with the tagline “And Barney too!” – he soon changed his name to Barnato, which sounded like his signature introduction.