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One of the most iconic elements of the Star Trek universe came about because a Jewish boy dared to sneak a peek at a sacred moment.
During the filming of the 1967 (original series) episode “Amok Time,” Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock – the half-human, half-Vulcan science officer of the USS Enterprise – felt prompted to offer some sort of greeting when encountering a particular alien species.
He remembered a moment that had deeply impressed him as a child.
Nimoy, whose family was nominally Jewish, had been recruited to sing in the synagogue choir during the holidays. At one point, five or six men stood before the congregation, passionately reciting Aaron’s high priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26.
According to tradition, every eye was to be closed. Otherwise, one might be dazzled by the blinding light of the Shekinah – God’s glory cloud. As Nimoy later admitted, “I peeked.”
He never forgot what he saw.
As the men recited the Aaronic blessing, they held up their hands, palms forward, thumbs extended, creating a gap between their middle and ring fingers. Nimoy later learned they were symbolically representing the Hebrew letter shin (which looks like this: ש), which simultaneously stood for Shekinah, Shaddai (“Almighty”), and shalom (“peace”).
Nimoy said, “When I saw the split-fingered gesture of these men…I was entranced. I learned to do it simply because it seemed so magical.”
Twenty-five years later, when it was time to film the scene of Spock’s alien encounter, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had not scripted a salute of any kind. But he was intrigued when Nimoy stepped forward and said, “How about this?” For the actor, it had always represented a blessing – a heartfelt declaration of peace and goodwill.
Ultimately, the so-called Vulcan salute became associated with the words, “Live long and prosper.” No one had any clue it would resonate so powerfully with the Star Trek fanbase, becoming part and parcel of the series narrative.
Words of blessing are also central to Scripture.
At least 15 of the New Testament’s 27 books end with a benediction (literally, a “good word”) that declares anew God’s grace and peace.
What words did Leonard Nimoy hear during that synagogue service so many years ago? Here’s the blessing routinely spoken by Aaron, Israel’s first high priest:
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Think of the six gifts embodied in those three sentences.
God yearns to bless you – to provide for all your needs.
He promises to keep you – to watch over you with unbroken care.
God will cause his face to shine upon you. In the ancient world, citizens had no higher aspiration than to look into the face of their king and to see a smile, an expression of welcome and acceptance.
God longs to be gracious to you – to assure you there is nothing you can do to make him love you more, and nothing you can do to make him love you less.
He will lift up his countenance upon you – or as Eugene Peterson memorably translates this phrase in The Message, “will look you full in the face.” He gives us the gift of his complete attention.
God promises you peace – not the absence of chaos or trouble, but his own shalom that can see you through the darkest day.
These are God’s life-giving words.
And they can even become the words by which we bless others.
We don’t have to extend our arms like Aaron, nor offer the Vulcan salute like Spock. We don’t even have to say anything out loud.
But something happens when we approach other human beings and, in the quietness of our hearts, extend to them God’s blessings. “Lord, may this woman know your grace today. Help this teenager be convinced that you care for him. Guide me to become a vessel of your peace to everyone I meet.”
When we choose to speak aloud words of encouragement instead of criticism, and to lift someone up instead of tearing them down, we may be doing something we don’t even recognize.
By God’s grace, we’re pronouncing a benediction, a good word, a profound declaration of blessing.
And by means of such words we may be changing all of somebody’s tomorrows – and helping them boldly go where they have never gone before.