Leonard Nimoy, from Star Trek to Jewish-Themed Photography, Has Lived Long and Prospered

JEWISH AND ISRAEL NEWS
By Robert Gluck

93-12 by Leonard Nimoy from Skekhina Project. Courtesy of R.Michelson Galleries

MASSACHUSETTS---Leonard Nimoy says there is a “strong strain of Judaism” in everything he does—including his famous on-screen hand gestures. Best known for his character Mr. Spock in the “Star Trek” television show and movies..., Nimoy’s Vulcan hand gesture comes from an experience he had at synagogue when he was 8 years old. Nimoy’s father told him not to look as worshippers averted their eyes during blessings recited by the kohanim. Years later, while on the set of the “Star Trek” television show, Nimoy suggested to the director that Vulcans like Spock should offer some gesture in greeting other Vulcans. [link]

• In October 2002, Nimoy published “The Shekhina Project,” a photographic study inspired by Kabbalah and exploring the feminine aspect of God’s presence. 
• According to Rich Michelson, owner of the Northampton, Mass.-based R. Michelson Galleries, tNimoy’s religiously controversial “Shekhina Project” opened up a societal debate when it was published and shown to the public in 2002. 
• His photographs are in the collections of many major museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Judah L. Magnes Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum of New York, the New Orleans Museum of Fine Art, and the Hammer Museum.
• Nimoy just produced a collection called ‘Eye Contact’ of 25 fine art prints, where there is no eye contact with the models which explores issues of privacy, modesty and voyeurism.