It is actually the priestly blessing of the Jewish Kohanim (Cohens, Kohns, Kohanes, priests). It is used to ward off evil. I am told it is still used by the Hasidim, but I have not seen it myself.
Speaking of Star Trek, recent Treks' apparently throwing the Bible out of Federation culture creates continuity errors (c.f. the chapel in "Balance of Terror", the Bible quotes in "The Empath", etc.).
BTW, when Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) hit rock bottom in her alcoholism, the Son saved her life as well as her soul (c.f. her autobiography The Longest Trek).
I remember reading that Leonard Nimoy told the story that those being blessed would have to turn away from the priest so that they weren't 'asking' for the blessing, and as a child he would sneak a look behind him and learned to mimic the priest's hand position, and then decided to use it as the Vulcan greeting gesture.
A nice inside joke.
ReplyDeleteLive long and prosper.
Speaking of Star Trek, recent Treks' apparently throwing the Bible out of Federation culture creates continuity errors (c.f. the chapel in "Balance of Terror", the Bible quotes in "The Empath", etc.).
ReplyDeleteBTW, when Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) hit rock bottom in her alcoholism, the Son saved her life as well as her soul (c.f. her autobiography The Longest Trek).
I remember reading that Leonard Nimoy told the story that those being blessed would have to turn away from the priest so that they weren't 'asking' for the blessing, and as a child he would sneak a look behind him and learned to mimic the priest's hand position, and then decided to use it as the Vulcan greeting gesture.
ReplyDelete