Some cultures have non-verbal greetings (e.g., https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/handshake-alternatives-gestures-around-world-trnd/index.html) and these are being recommended in lieu of a handshake due to the covid-19 pandemic. Does Judaism have any such non-verbal greetings?
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Air-handshake (like the rebbeim do)... A nod and a tip of the hat were also common when more Jews had hats.– Harel13Commented Apr 17, 2020 at 13:10
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6a chai five? ;)– rosendsCommented Apr 17, 2020 at 13:12
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5We designated one last Purim: judaism.stackexchange.com/a/100803/2– Isaac Moses ♦Commented Apr 17, 2020 at 13:31
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Many Hassidic and Yeshivish do a type of a head nod. It's hard to describe of you've never seen it. Kind of tilted to the side a bit. Sometimes comes with a smile or a type of surprised expression or a combination of both.– user6591Commented Apr 17, 2020 at 14:10
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@Harel13 Do you have a video of that type of air handshake?– Yehuda WCommented Apr 17, 2020 at 14:30
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1 Answer
There is indeed a Jewish non-verbal greeting mentioned by Solomon Maimon in Chapter One of his autobiography in the 18th Century:
Jews with their wagons comprised part of it, and whenever a Jew passed through our village (something that happened quite often), he had to stop at my grandfather's inn, where someone would come outside to greet him with a glass of brandy, making the sign of shalam with one hand, and giving him a glass with the other.
(My emphasis)
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2With 100% seriousness, we need to dig up this information and re-boot this meme.– Isaac Moses ♦Commented Apr 17, 2020 at 15:53
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3@YehudaW I don’t know what it was. But from the way it’s written it sounds like something that a contemporaneous reader would be expected to be familiar with.– AlexCommented Apr 17, 2020 at 15:55