Repost: Zev Stub, “‘Live Long and Prosper’: Spock’s legacy honors Jewish leaders for fighting hate”
Why I’m Reposting
Note to self: Update my two articles proving that Star Trek is the most Zionist show ever, since Squarespace apparently decided that entire sections were optional and could be terminated.
Today I’m reposting a Times of Israel article about Leonard Nimoy…’s award. Nemoy is the man behind Spock, patron saint of autistic Star Trek fans and approximately my 20th- favorite Star Trek character. He was in Mission: Impossible and some other things I didn’t love too!
Nimoy was a legend. Not “William Shatner playing in a heavy-metal band at Riot Fest at age 95” legendary. Nobody else can aspire to that level of Zio-greatness, but a legend nonetheless.
In brief, the article explains how Nimoy’s Jewish upbringing shaped Spock’s most famous gesture and phrase. The son of Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants, Nimoy based the Vulcan salute on the hand gesture used by the kohanim during the Priestly Blessing he witnessed as a child. The piece then turns to the Live Long and Prosper Tribute Award, created in his memory, which this year honors three Vanderbilt University leaders for combating hatred, supporting Jewish life, and bridging divides. I covered parts of it in the aforementioned essays I need to fix up.
Read the original article here, on Times of Israel. Or read it below! Taken without permission.
‘Live Long and Prosper’: Spock’s legacy honors Jewish leaders for fighting hate
The award, inspired by Leonard Nimoy’s iconic Vulcan greeting, recognizes those boldly working to strengthen Jewish life
Zev Stub; Jul 22, 2026
Illustrative: Leonard Nimoy as Spock from the series 'Star Trek.' (photo credit: Startrek.com)
A foundation honoring the memory of Leonard Nimoy, the Jewish actor who famously played the pointy-eared Vulcan Mr. Spock in Star Trek, has selected new winners for its “Live Long and Prosper” Tribute Award.
The honorees, all from Vanderbilt University, are Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein, director of the Rohr Chabad House and Lubeck Center for Jewish Life, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, and Vice Chancellor for Operations and the Campus Network Darren Reisberg. Recognized for “combating hatred, supporting Jewish life and bridging divides,” the three will be honored at a celebration at the Vanderbilt Chabad House on September 18.
According to the Nimoy-Knight Foundation, established by Leonard Nimoy’s daughter Julie Nimoy and filmmaker David Knight, the Live Long and Prosper (LLAP) award recognizes individuals whose lives exemplify compassion, wisdom, courage, service and an enduring commitment to human dignity. Previous honorees include Whoopi Goldberg, Billie Jean King, Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Takei, LeVar Burton and Mayim Bialik.
Nimoy, born in Boston to Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants in 1931, had an acting career that spanned seven decades, boldly going where few had gone before. His iconic Spock character helped launch the original 1966 Star Trek science fiction television series into one of the most recognizable media franchises of all time, with numerous films, video games, comic books, and TV show spinoffs.
Nimoy has said that his character’s iconic Vulcan salute was inspired by the hand gesture used by Jewish priests, or kohanim, during the Priestly Blessing he witnessed as a child in synagogue. He has also described the blessing as the inspiration for Spock’s greeting, “Live long and prosper.”
Nimoy, who earned three Emmy Award nominations and had an asteroid named after him, was active in several Jewish causes, and narrated the documentary “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” in 1997. He was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) about a year before he reached his final frontier in 2015.
(L-R) Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Vice Chancellor for Operations and the Campus Network Darren Reisberg, and Rohr Chabad House and Lubeck Center for Jewish Life director Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein, winners of the Nimoy-Knight Foundation’s ‘Live Long and Prosper’ Tribute Award (Courtesy/Nimoy-Knight Foundation)
Accepting the award, Diermeier said Nimoy’s trademark phrase rose above the show that made it famous.
“The phrase ‘live long and prosper’ has become one of the most recognizable expressions in popular culture,” Diermeier said. “Yet its enduring appeal lies in the aspiration it represents — an aspiration that transcends cultures and generations: the idea that people can flourish, contribute to the common good, and live together with dignity, mutual respect and peace.”
Leonard Nimoy, who played the role of Spock in the original Star Trek television series, waves on arrival for the Los Angeles premiere of the movie ‘Star Trek Into Darkness” in Hollywood, California, in this May 14, 2013, file photo. (Photo credit: AFP/Frederic J. BROWN/FILES)
“In a world too often marked by division and misunderstanding, these values remain as relevant as ever, and they are at the heart of the work of combating antisemitism and strengthening understanding across communities,” he added.
