COMMENTARY: A Rabbi’s Momentary Encounter With a Muslim Jeweler

c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I am a sucker for lapis lazuli. Perhaps that’s because my simplistic taste in colors draws me to the Crayola-crayon blue gemstone. Perhaps it’s that I fell in love with its alliterative name the first time I read it in the book of Exodus. Regardless, I own about 15 […]

c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) I am a sucker for lapis lazuli. Perhaps that’s because my simplistic taste in colors draws me to the Crayola-crayon blue gemstone. Perhaps it’s that I fell in love with its alliterative name the first time I read it in the book of Exodus. Regardless, I own about 15 pairs of lapis cuff links, most purchased off eBay during a manic episode.

I otherwise wear no jewelry save my wedding band. One day, I got it into my head that I’d like to own a simple ring with lapis inlay. I searched where? On the Internet, of course, and found precisely the style from a jeweler whom I had good reason to believe was reputable. The $450 ring arrived, a perfect fit to all aesthetic expectations.


One day, though, I gave the ring a knock, and a big chunk of the lapis fell out. The jeweler would simply not make good on it. I took the ring to a reputable lapidary. Could he replace the lapis? He took one look and announced, “Why? All you have now is high-quality blue polymer.”

End of story.

I will never forget the day that radical Muslim terrorists bombed the London underground. That very day, I was strolling the “Rodeo Drive of Toronto.” What did I behold but a jeweler who specialized in … lapis. There before my very eyes was a clone of my ring.

I asked the proprietor if it was Afghani lapis. Yes, he said, the finest quality.

We warmed to each other. With trepidation, I asked him his nationality.

“Do you promise not to hold it against me?”

I nodded.

In a hush, he told me he was Afghani.

He asked me my nationality. I knew that he had already figured out that I was an American, that he was looking for something else. I asked if he promised not to hold it against me. He, too, nodded.

“I am Jewish. You must be Muslim.”

We shook hands. “Well,” I said, “I guess we’ve signed our own peace treaty.”

He agreed, called his wife and daughter from the back and introduced them.

I told him of my interest in the ring. I told him the story of its counterpart, the lapis-cum-polymer one from the Internet.

“Sir,” he said, “do you like this ring? If you do, I will cast another one in your size. I will have to charge you $30 for the additional gold. I will send it to you. Please take it to any lapidary you wish. If you want to keep it, send me a check. If for any reason you do not want it, simply send it back to me.”

“You trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you speak like an honest man.”

Let’s not be naive. This momentary exchange between Muslim and Jew may not portend a world free from cataclysm and strife. If nothing else, though, it was a stirring reminder that God has made a good way for us, a word or two here, an island of trust there, a serendipitous counterpoint to mangled bodies beneath metropolitan London or the latest report of carnage in the Middle East.


I think of the Oriental proverb: “When a butterfly flutters its wings on one side of the world, its power can be felt on the other side.” I dare to wonder whether my lapis merchant and I might be a couple of those butterflies.

How the fluttering works its way to the other side of the world, God only knows. Maybe the child was impressed by the beneficence of his father. Maybe his father explained his beneficence to him. Maybe I will regale my own children with this story of extraordinary trust. Maybe the waves of influence will ripple outward.

All I do know is that war may end through physical domination, but peace is of the metaphysical world, a world in which miracles may be consummated even over an inert chunk of lapis lazuli.

MO/PH END RNS

(Marc Howard Wilson is a rabbi, syndicated columnist and project design consultant in Greenville, S.C. A collection of his essays may be found at MarcMusing.com. He may be reached at MarcWilson1216(at)aol.com.)

Editors: To obtain a photo of Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject (Marc Howard Wilson). Check “exact phrase” for best results.

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