Watch Leonard Nimoy explain the Jewish origins of the Vulcan greeting

Leonard Nimoy explains where the famous Vulcan greeting came from

(Image credit: Yiddish Book Center/New York Times)

Leonard Nimoy originally got the idea for the V-shaped Vulcan hand greeting during a chanting ceremony in a synagogue when he was younger, he told the Yiddish Book Center Wexler Oral History Project, in this video posted by The New York Times. During a "chilling" call-and-response, Nimoy peeked at the chanters, "and I saw them with their hand sticking out of their tallit like this," he said, holding his hands up in the now-famous Vulcan gesture.

Nimoy said he remembered that gesture when he was set to meet his first fellow Vulcans on the TV show Star Trek, and he pitched it to the director as a greeting between Vulcans. "Boy, that just took off through the culture — it was amazing," Nimoy told the interviewer. "Within days after it aired, I was getting it on the street." Fans continued greeting him with the V gesture up until his death, but "people don't realize they're blessing each other with this," Nimoy added, laughing. Presumably, "live long and prosper" came from a scriptwriter. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.