Diamonds on the Brain

I remember hearing something on one of Rabbi Lazer Brody’s amazing CD’s that still amazes me: “What the eyes see, the heart desires.” This statement is so full of truth, and if we look carefully, we can see this truth all around us.
 
For example: I used to looooooove diamonds. They were always on my mind. Diamond rings, diamond necklaces, anything diamonds made my eyes sparkle. Well, duh, I was always looking at diamonds. Somehow, miraculously, since I have come to Israel over two years ago, my obsession has disappeared. I stopped having diamonds on the brain 24 hours a day. How did it happen? I had no idea, until my anniversary recently rolled around.
 
Each year, when my husband gives me the usual, “What do you want for our anniversary”, I give him the usual “I don’t know”. Then I spend way too much time trying to find something that meets his budget and my lack of practicality. Inevitably, more than once I found myself perusing the local diamond exchange, trying to find that piece of jewelry that would make us both happy.
 
It only happened once.
 
Thus, I spent the other 363 days (the same scenario repeated itself every birthday) fantasizing over colorful, sparkling, gorgeous, shiny, big diamonds.
 
This year, it was the same question/same answer routine. However, there is no jewelry exchange to go to in my town – just a few jewelry stores that didn’t offer enough variety for me. So I went online.
 
And then it hit me: that mouth-watering feeling that I just had to have the gorgeous pieces of jewelry I found online. I think my mouth really was salivating at the pictures of gorgeous sparkling rings.
 
“But you already have several rings,” my husband countered. “Yes, but I just have to have this one,” I replied. In reality, I do have a few very nice pieces that I haven’t worn in several years because: a) they’re too small for my fingers; b) I have nowhere to wear them to; c) oops, I totally forgot that I had them!
 
So how did I get over this obsession with diamonds? I realized that answer “b” was the key. Here, there are few, if any, women walking around with fancy jewelry on. It’s not a fashion show like it was (and still is) in Miami Beach. There are no billboards with the latest DeBeer’s propaganda, brainwashing women into believing that, “True love only comes with a diamond from DeBeer’s,” or something like that.
 
I’m telling you, living in Miami wasn’t like living in reality. There are way too many people with way too much money, or at least way too many people spending way too much money. Probably both.
 
I realized that everywhere I went, even grocery shopping, I was bombarded with diamonds. No wonder I wanted them so much!
 
Fancy cars, fancy homes, fancy restaurants- whatever it is, the above-mentioned quote couldn’t be truer – the more we see something the more we want it.
 
Living in a society with such excess makes us think that this is the only way to live. But it’s not. It seems to me that we unintentionally set ourselves up to live materially-oriented lifestyles.
 
If you lived in the country, in some small town, without billboards and women with 20 inches missing from the bottom of their skirts, do you think you would desire half the things you currently desire? Do you think that not being accosted with million-dollar homes on every block and Ferrari’s in the driveways might not have you slaving your lives away as much?
 
Maybe I said it backwards. My point is that if you were to live in a place that was modest in every way – from lifestyle to dress – do you think that you would want or need half the stuff you have now?
 
It’s something to think about.
 
Even kids aren’t exempt from such desires of the heart. I know that if I still lived in Miami, my kids would be making me crazy to buy them an iPad or something electronic along those lines. I know that my cousins have iPhones, which I think is completely insane. Not only does it condition kids to want expensive and unnecessary things, but it exposes them to the internet – and I certainly don’t need to list the dangers for children that exist online.
 
And I can’t just limit it to desiring stuff. Like I mentioned, places like Miami Beach are certainly not appropriate for a man who’s serious about guarding his eyes. It’s practically impossible. What about women? Well, when I began to dress modestly and cover my hair without a wig, I can tell you that I felt extremely ugly – especially when I visited my parents in their swank condo/hotel on the beach.
 
To me, it’s like fighting a losing battle. A materially-oriented society just trains us to be materially-oriented. Even if we think we can handle the temptations and not get affected by them, why put ourselves at such a constant disadvantage? And furthermore, even if we are able to seemingly remain unaffected, our kids certainly don’t have such willpower. It’s an unfair situation all around.
 
So what am I saying- that we should all pack up and move out to the country?
 
Yes. That’s exactly it. Pack up, and move to your country – the country of your inheritance. I just came up with a great slogan: “Israel – where the desires of the heart meet the desires of the soul.”
 
I guess years of watching American Express commercials actually did something positive for me…