Diamonds

Adapted from Hayom Yom 17 Iyar and 2 Elul: “The children of Israel are called “the desired land” (Malachi 3:12), for like the land, they possess numerous precious resources embedded within them.

The Baal Shem Tov said, “I want to make Israel yield the kind of produce which the Almighty’s ‘land of desire’ is capable of yielding.”

Beginning in the late eighties, every Sunday, the Rebbe would stand for many hours in the small entrance hall at 770 Eastern Parkway and receive thousands of people from all walks of life, who sought his blessing and counsel. He would bless and encourage them all, and give each one a dollar bill to in turn give to charity, effectively making each one an “emissary of a mitzvah”. Around the world this phenomenon came to be known simply as “dollars”.

The song recounts a beautiful exchange between the Rebbe and an elderly woman who, while in line for her turn to receive a dollar, wondered how the Rebbe was able to stand untiringly for so many hours on his feet.

Employing the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe said, “Every Jew is a diamond and you do not get tired when you’re counting diamonds.”