Filmmaker shines a spot on a
multifaceted world.
JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER
aylen Ross rarely wore jewelry when she be-
gan a seven-year journey documenting the
tight-knit world of Jewish diamond cutters,
polishers and dealers in New York City.
She still doesn't wear jewelry, but she came
away from the experience sharing the kind of
awe with which her subjects regard a beau-
tiful stone.
Her documentary, "Dealers Among Deal-
ers," aired on public broadcasting stations
across the country on July 25. WTVS-Chan-
nel 56 in Detroit doesn't plan to show it until
late fall.
Ms. Ross, an Indiana native who lives in
Brooklyn Heights, was able to penetrate the
cloistered community of Jews whose ancestors
in Europe began cutting, polishing and trad-
ing diamonds in the Middle Ages. Before and
after World War II, diamonds were a means
of staying alive for many dealers seeking safe
passage out of Europe.
Today they are "sophisticated internation-
alists" who operate via beeper and cellular
phones, she said.
For background, Ms. Ross consulted Ted
Radzilowski, president of St. Mary's College
of Orchard Lake. The two had worked together
on Ms. Ross' first award-winning documen-
tary about the lives of former Polish political
prisoners struggling to make it in America.
Dr. Radzilowski, a historian of East Cen-
tral Europe, provided Ms. Ross with an acad-
emic perspective on the cultural currents that
put Jews at the forefront of the diamond trade.
"We were interested in how everybody em-
bodied in their concept ofJewishness their
craft and locale. These men of the diamond in-
dustry see the trade as tied up with their iden-
tities as Jews.
"It gives them a common language, a sense
of belonging. They see it as a heritage of their
ancestors that marks the Diaspora, the times
of troubles. It ties them to their history," he
said.
Very few of the dealers in New York are
Chasidic but many of the artisans are. And be-
cause the trade is changing — Iranian, Israeli
and Indian dealers are moving in — "Dealers
Among Dealers" captures a world that may
integrate itself out of existence.
"In some ways, the crafting of these dia-
monds in New York as a business is shrink-
ing," Ms. Ross said. "It's going to India or Israel,
where they cut the tiny stones."
Ms. Ross, 42, got interested in the life
buzzing in cubicles and nooks high above 47th
Street in Manhattan through her friend Har-
vey Lieberman.
Mr. Lieberman, who was reared in the Cha-
sidic tradition, cut his teeth on diamond cut-
ting, later abandoning the trade for acting. He
introduced Ms. Ross to a world of men who
mix business and pleasure routinely and who
make multimillion dollar deals with a hand-
shake and a promise, or "mazel and bracha,"
as they put it.
"Dealing is a very social, exciting world,"
Ms. Ross said.
In the back rooms of those offices, which are
heavily secured against outsiders, the cutters
and polishers sing Hebrew songs while they
work. Zev, one of the crooners Ms. Ross caught
on film, subsequently left the business to be-
come a cantor in a Long Island synagogue.
be made without five lawyers on either side,
that's different."
Following around her subjects led Ms. Ross
to a wedding and other unlikely settings to
capture the esprit of the diamond dealing fra-
ternity. At one Chasidic wedding, her camera
is trained on a group of people enthusiastically
debating whether a kosher butcher should sell
unkosher meat to gentiles.
The documentary also touches on the
poignant decline of ex-dealer Stuey, who was
once ferried around town by limousine and
now drives one for a living. It brings viewers
to auction houses and back rooms, focusing on
the acquisition and eventual sale of the Guinea
Star diamond for $10 million.
Ms. Ross said she'd still rather admire dia-
monds through the eyes of the craftsmen she
met.
"Now I look at a diamond and think, 'it's a
beautiful blue' or 'it's gorgeous.' But I'm more
interested in the way they talk about it. I'm
not sure I would pass up a great five-star
restaurant for a diamond." 0
Left: Diamond
cutters Mutti
and Herb.
cr.)
"Diamonds and jewelry didn't interest me
— I've had millions of dollars sitting in my
hand at one time — I was totally enraptured
by the people," Ms. Ross said. "The way they
look into the hearts of these tiny little stones
is incredible. The fact you can be so passion-
ate that you can still do that, that deals can
Cf)
CD
Right: Dr. Ted
Radzilowski
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