Vulcan (Star Trek) - Character Development

Character Development

Leonard Nimoy discussed the origin of the Vulcan salute in his autobiography I Am Spock. As a bit of stage "business" in the episode "Amok Time", he invented the famous "Live long and prosper" Vulcan salute based on the hand symbol used by Jewish priests (kohanim) during the Priestly Blessing in the synagogue. The gesture actually emulates the initial Shin of the Shema (Nimoy has also commented that the "sh" could also indicate Shaddai, or the Almighty; more recently, on William Shatner's Raw Nerve, he associated it with Shekhinah.) On numerous occasions, for example in the 1983 TV special Star Trek Memories (which is often syndicated along with The Original Series), Nimoy recounts how as a child, he peeked during the blessing and witnessed the gesture, although the congregation are supposed to put hands over eyes or turn away at this moment in acknowledgement of the presence of the Almighty.

The Vulcan nerve pinch was created for the episode "The Enemy Within". The original script called for Spock to knock the "evil" Kirk unconscious with the butt of a phaser. Leonard Nimoy felt that the act was too reminiscent of a TV western (some accounts say that he objected to a pacifistic Vulcan taking such overtly hostile action), and thus introduced the famous non-lethal maneuver.