As I wrote in my article "Spock and Jews in the 1960s" (included in Kevin Neece's book Spockology), there weren't many positive Jewish role models on TV back then:
"This was back when most Jewish actors and writers changed their names to sound more “American.” The hero was always a Stoic White Man of the Aryan Persuasion who never, ever waved his hands around or spoke with a Yiddish accent like the people on my block. Even biblical characters were played as if they grew up in the American Bible Belt. Everybody celebrated Christmas on programs like “Leave it to Beaver,” but there was no acknowledgement of Hanukkah, except maybe to morph it into a “Jewish Christmas,” complete with a bogus “Hanukkah bush.” If Jews were included in the script at all, they were usually played as buffoons."Of course Spock wasn't Jewish, but Leonard Nimoy was. And he was no buffoon.
It is well documented that Nimoy drew upon his Jewish background to develop the character. We all know about the Vulcan Salute being derived from a Jewish blessing gesture, but there are other influences also. His love of knowledge and pride in his Vulcan culture were important to me at a time when intellectuals were disparaged as "eggheads" (forerunner of "nerds") and being Jewish was something we often hid in order to "pass" in a world hostile to us. I credit Spock with giving me a model for how to live in an "alien" world without losing my identity as a Jew.
It was not until my mid-50s, when I was diagnosed with ADHD and later autism, that I found another reason I relate to Spock. He does indeed have a lot of seemingly autistic traits, even though Roddenberry thought of them as "logic." Then again, many autistics are good at math and logic. And like Spock, we often misread human emotions.
All of this, of course, is my own personal transference. Others see Spock in different ways. Which is fine. Star Trek has always been a mirror in which we see ourselves reflected. That is a big part of its longevity. May it continue to do so for many years to come.
Live long and prosper!
kol tuv uv'racha...
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STEPHAN PICKERING / חפץ ח"ם בן אברהם
Torah אלילה Yehu'di Apikores / Philologia Kabbalistica Speculativa Researcher
לחיות זמן רב ולשגשג
THE KABBALAH FRACTALS PROJECT
Yonassan, can't find any direct and private email for you, so here's a short version of my hoped-for thanks to you:
ReplyDeleteMeine Kenntnisse in der deutschen Sprache, als totaler Amerikaner scheinen -- mir selbst sogar -- überraschend gut, even though I've never resided in Europe or in any non-Anglophone environment. Your reincarnation perspective has been of great help to me, a deeply Jewish-inclined blue-eyed blond, fiercely studying languages (as in Qohelet 12:12) amid Americans & monoglossia on every side. Now in the DC area (address is **** at ****), I have so many benefactors in my wake, so it's the least I can do to thank a few of them here & there as I am able. Gam lekha, shalom uverakha, vegam le-isha shelkha and to all your loved ones!