Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
Leonard Nimoy talks about religion, Vulcans, sexuality, getting up at 5 a.m. and his love of photographing naked women.
Sep 6, 2002 | I am sitting in Leonard Nimoy's Manhattan living room discussing naked women. Not just any naked women, but Mr. Spock's naked women. Nimoy's naked women.
"I Am Not Spock" was the title of Nimoy's first autobiography. "I Am Spock," the title of his second. This on-again, off-again Vulcan science officer has a new book out -- a collection of his photographs of nudes. But Nimoy's naked women are not Helmut Newton's naked women. There's something otherworldly about Nimoy's dames. You might suppose they're Vulcan nudes minus the pointy ears. His naked women stand in trances. They float in black pools. When they're photographed naked outside, the background seems deliberately false, like a cheesy "Star Trek" set from the late 1960s.
Sometimes Nimoy's women are dressed, but just barely -- they peek out of transparent ceremonial robes. Their skin is often vibrating -- you can imagine them whispering, "Beam me up, Scotty." Often the flesh of these women is transformed into pure light. As the photographer talks to me about his women -- his work -- he gets more animated and suddenly raises his right hand and makes that gesture. Yes. Nimoy is older than you can imagine with a face that is still luminescent and beautiful, sporting a gray crew cut and shaved chin -- and he is raising his hand like Tonto about to say, "How" -- except Nimoy's thumb is extended while his pointer and middle finger form a V with his ring finger and pinkie.
Perhaps only a handful of Americans have never seen Mr. Spock give the Vulcan greeting. I'm sure those other Americans called "Trekkies" have calculated how many times Spock has given this hand signal on television and film. A dozen times? A hundred? Can you imagine what it is like to sit in this man's immaculate living room, lined with photographs of his naked women, and observe him giving the Vulcan greeting?
But then Nimoy is making the signal not as a reference to "Star Trek" but as an example of Jewish sign language. In fact, Nimoy's naked women are a representation of a single Jewish archetype -- the Shekhina, the feminine presence of God. According to the doctrine of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, evil came into the world after God was separated from the Shekhina.
How does mainstream Judaism treat the Kabbalah?
It ranges from intense interest to indifference. You don't have to have Kabbalah in your life to be Jewish. You don't have to be Jewish to be interested in Kabbalah. I'd been curious about it for many years.
Can you explain the Shekhina?
Kabbalahists developed the idea that Shekhina is the Sabbath bride of God. And she and God meet and mate every Friday night. Other people have different visions of the Shekhina. There's the theory that Shekhina and Moses lived together as husband and wife. When Moses died, the Shekhina carried him on her wings to his burial place. I just find it fascinating. I've always been interested in magic. I've always been interested in the paranormal. Mysteries intrigue me and there is a great deal of mystery involved here. A great deal of spirituality too.
Do you know Leonard Cohen's music?
[Sits upright; looks alert.] I'm well aware of him. Why do you ask?
He frequently sings about naked women and his songs remind me of your photos. He even has a song about a woman's flesh turning into light.
[Recites] "I dreamed about you baby, just the other night/ Mostly you was naked, but -- ah -- some of you was light." [Pause.] I just discovered that song fairly recently. I was playing the soundtrack to "Wonderboys" in the car and I heard the Cohen song and had to stop the car. "Whoa! What did he just say?" [Laughs.] I have to talk to him. I wonder if the word "Shekhina" resonates for him.
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