MDDM Ch. 50 Live Long and Prosper

[Dave Monroe]

"... 'tis Dixon's luck to discover The Rabbi of
Prague,
headquarters of a Kabbalistick Faith, in
correspondence with the Elect Cohens of Paris, whose
private Salute they now greet Dixon with, the Fingers
spread two and two, and the Thumb held away from them
likewise, said to represent the Hebrew letter Shin and
to signify, 'live long and prosper.'" (M&D, Ch. 50, p.
485)

... We come now to the most famous Jewish influence on
Vulcan culture, the "live long and prosper" hand
gesture....

[...]

The Vulcan greeting is based upon a blessing gesture
used by the kohanim (koe-hah-NEEM) during the worship
service. The kohanim are the genealogical descendants
of the Jewish priests who served in the Jerusalem
Temple. Modern Jews no longer have priests leading
services as in ancient times, nor do we have animal
sacrifices anymore. (Yes, people really do ask about
that!) The sacrificial system ended with the
destruction of the Temple by the Romans in the year
70. C.E. However, a remnant of the Temple service
lives on in the "kohane blessing" ritual (duchenen in
Yiddish) that is performed on certain holy days.

[Hebrew letter SHIN] [hand and SHIN letter] The actual
blessing is done with both arms held horizontally in
front, at shoulder level, with hands touching, to form
the Hebrew letter "shin." This stands for the Hebrew
word for "Shaddai", meaning "Almighty [God]." Nimoy
modified this gesture into one hand held upright,
making it more like a salute. So, technically, the
Vulcan greeting is not the same thing as the
ceremonial Jewish blessing. Still, the resemblance is
close enough to evoke instant recognition among
knowledgeable Jews.

During the synagogue service, the worshippers are not
supposed to look at the kohanim while the blessing is
being given. The reason for this is to focus our
attention on the words of the prayer itself, rather
than on the personalities of the kohanim. The kohanim
are merely the channels, not the source, of the
blessing, which comes from God. Unfortunately, all
sorts of silly superstitions have arisen about this
ritual, such as "Don't look at the kohanim, or you'll
go blind!" and other nonsense. The real reason is
simply to focus on receiving blessings directly from
God, not from human beings.

[position of the hands for the blessing] Like most
Jewish children, young Leonard Nimoy could not contain
his curiosity about what the kohanim were really doing
up there in front of the congregation. He writes:

"The special moment when the Kohanim blessed the
assembly moved me deeply, for it possessed a great
sense of magic and theatricality... I had heard that
this indwelling Spirit of God was too powerful, too
beautiful, too awesome for any mortal to look upon and
survive, and so I obediently covered my face with my
hands. But of course, I had to peek." (From his
autobiography, I am Spock.)

Leonard survived his peeking unscathed, and saw the
kohanim extending their fingers in the mystical "shin"
gesture. That magical moment remained with him for
life, and was there to draw upon years later, when he
invented the Vulcan salute. 

http://www.pinenet.com/rooster/v-salute.html

Welcome to Trekjews.com --
Your source for Jewish themes in Star Trek

http://www.pinenet.com/rooster/trekjews.html

And see as well, e.g., ...

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0205

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