Often you will see the concept of "rabbi" fingerspelled.
A common sign for rabbi moves "R-hands" downward a bit near the
upper body to show the tallit or prayer shawl worn by a rabbi or
perhaps the hair sidecurls (payos or a payot) worn by some.
(Also see: Jewish)
In being further educated on the etymology of this sign I've made a mental
note that the next time I redo any graphics for the rabbi page I want to do
the sign using a somewhat smaller movement to better reflect that it is
based on a shawl rather than a robe.
However, (the plot thickens), after investigating this sign a bit from an
international perspective, I'm sort of convinced that the sign may not be
about the overall shawl either. When I look at international signers I'm
seeing a movement that uses index fingers pointing up and moving down in a
curly pattern that seems more reflective of what I believe are called
tzitzits.
Or there is even a chance that the sign is related to sidecurls (of hair)
that I believe are called 'Payos.'
In either case, the "R" hand (in the ASL version) probably isn't
representing the letter "R" in rabbi (and certainly not the "r" in robe
--ha!) but rather is likely showing the twisted strands of the hair and or
tzitzits. The overlap with the "r" in rabbi might just be serendipitous but
folk etymology causes us to erroneously (wrongly) assume the "R" handshape
is mapped to the English spelling of rabbi.
(
Note: In an earlier version of this page I (Bill) referred to this sign as
representing the robes worn by a rabbi. An ASL Hero was kind enough to
write and let me know that a better term would be "tallit" (or prayer
shawl).
3/25/2022: A comment from the Lifeprint-ASLU Facebook group commented:
"Just wanted to let folks know that I think this is referring to a tallis /
tallit, or prayer shawl.
Rabbis don't have specific robes that they wear, or really any other
unifying piece of clothing besides the kippot. Thank you!
Edit for clarity: The sign is definitely for Rabbi, but where the text says
it's referring to their robes, I think it should say tallit or prayer shawl,
since rabbis don't wear robes.
Thank you!"
(Comment source:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lifeprint.ASLU/posts/4761206967311793/ )
3/25/2022: An other ASL Hero in that same thread wrote:
"This is the sign for rabbi. It is the same as the one used in Canada. It is
an established sign. Sometimes it is spelled."
--------------------
Interestingly, in a White House video on YouTube titled "President Biden and
Vice President Harris Attend the National Prayer Breakfast" (Feb 3, 2022)
(See: https://youtu.be/Yvwf8UeoUzI?t=1224 ) at the 20:26 time stamp (and
throughout much of the rest of the video) the interpreter does a sign for
"rabbi" that uses (loose) "C" hands as if depicting a scarf hanging down on
both sides of someone's neck. That sign actually looks like one of the
(several) signs for "lungs." I am NOT advocating the use of that sign.
I'm simply documenting that it has been used by an obviously skilled
interpreter in a video of national importance and relatively high viewership
-- since it was likely broadcast nationwide before being archived on
YouTube.
Notes:
index-old.htm
matrix-for-sign-pages (_matrix.htm)
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