By Mark D. Zimmerman
MELVILLE, New York — At one point in his life, Leonard Nimoy scheduled a speaking tour, but a number of synagogues then canceled his scheduled appearances. What was their objection?
- A. Nimoy produced and starred in the movie Never Forget, based on the true story of Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor who confronted a Holocaust-denying organization in court. Nimoy was booked to speak in many synagogues to publicize the movie, but when some Orthodox synagogues learned about the Vulcan hand greeting based on the Priestly Blessing of the Kohanim, they took offense at this secular use of the religious ritual by Nimoy and canceled his appearances.
- B. Nimoy, an accomplished photographer, published a book of his photographic work entitled The Shekhina Project, which explored the feminine side of G-d. He was “intrigued with scriptural mythology that tells us that G-d created a divine feminine presence to dwell amongst humanity…” The book featured photographs of women wearing tefillin (phylacteries) and nothing else. A number of synagogues had booked Nimoy for the accompanying book tour, but canceled the appearances when they learned about these photographs, which they considered offensive.
- C. Nimoy was a frequent speaker at synagogues, where he shared stories of his early exposure to anti-semitism in Boston, his later embrace of Judaism, and his professional connections to the Jewish people, including playing Golda Meir’s husband in the TV movie A Woman Called Golda, his performances as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and his portrayal of Holocaust survivor Mel Mermelstein in a film which Nimoy also produced, Never Forget. But in 2014, Nimoy reunited with William Shatner to film a Star Trek-themed Volkswagen commercial, touting the auto company’s electric cars. A number of synagogues canceled speaking engagements they had booked with Nimoy in objection to his participating in the commercial for the German car company.
- D. Nimoy was on a book tour for his first autobiography, I Am Not Spock, and was scheduled to speak at a number of synagogues. However, many synagogues canceled his talk when one of the passages in his book was publicized. In the book, Nimoy mentioned that one of his favorite meals was chopped tribble liver, which he first tasted when filming the iconic Star Trek episode The Trouble With Tribbles. Nimoy noted that it was much tastier than the chopped chicken liver his mother used to serve. Some traditional synagogues objected because tribble is not a kosher animal; while it has a cloven hoof, it does not chew its cud.
- E. Nimoy was on a book tour in 1995 following the publication of his second autobiography, I Am Spock. When it became known that in the book Nimoy advocated for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, a number of synagogues canceled his appearance in protest of his beliefs on this issue.
Here’s the link to the answer:
http://rrrjewishtrivia.com/answers/leonard-nimoy-answer.html
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Mark D. Zimmerman is the author of Rashi, Rambam and Ramalamadingdong series of Jewish trivia e-books. Learn more at rrrjewishtrivia.com.