In out of the town communities the good shabbos nod is non-existent, mostly because people actually say good shabbos and mean it. But when you get into larger metropolitan areas with huge Jewish populations the good shabbos nod becomes the norm.
For those of you who are friendly or live outside of a big Jewish community I will attempt to explain the good shabbos nod. The good shabbos nod is used in places like Brooklyn or Queens where people are always rushing so much that merely saying good shabbos may slow them down a millisecond too long, so instead of wasting breath they merely nod their heads.
Growing up on the upper west side helps one become an expert shabbos nodder. You can do the across the street nod and half wave, you raise your hand slightly and nod at the same time to acknowledge an across the street walker.
Nodding and saying good shabbos multiple times without actually saying the word good was quite popular in my neighborhood as well. This was reserved for folks in a rush who saw someone they recognized but didn’t want to bother stopping for.
The nod in Judaism was actually taken from the African American community in which males are known to nod at each other when they see people they know. Now Jewish people do it, but its more of a rude way of not saying any greeting to the person.
The nod becomes much more pronounced when you have people in black hats doing it, mostly because the hat moving up and down with the ark of the nod exacerbates the nod itself making you think the person is giving you a deep nod, when in fact you are getting one of those half nods that Brooklynites are famous for.
So next time you give someone the nod, why not say good shabbos? Actually if you think about the wind resistance that comes into play when giving someone the nod may actually slow you down more than when you say good shabbos.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a BT in the southwest, and it’s not just black men who do the nod. It’s fairly common among white goyim, too, at least here, and I suspect in the mid-west, too.
Around here goyim and jews alike do the nod. I do it just as a hello on a daily basis.
It’s like “yeah…” I’m a nodder and I’m neither male nor black.
The nod is good for people you don’t really want to talk to, but also don’t want to completely ignore.
It is also good for married frummy women, as they saying good Shabbos to them you be untznuis. Sometimes, I wonder if they think I’m some kind of pervert if I nod at them.
At least I’m not winking or pinching their bums, though that would be a very original for a Shabbos greeting, I’d probably end up with a black eye or worse.
Phil the best shabbos greeting – is doing an air pinch and saying Shabutt shalom!!!
That made me LOL
hah! here the brooklynites sometimes do the quick head swerve to avoid all human recognition at all…
and the chassidish men hop off the sidewalk and speed up
Quite frankly, a nod is better than nothing. At least it is an acknowledgment that you are a fellow Jew celebrating Shabbos.
In my neighborhood for some reason, there are people who think they are too good even to nod! They keep their heads down and pretend like we don’t exist.
What cracks me up is when my 5 year olds scream “Good Shabbos!” at them at the top of their lungs. Then they always offer a sheepish one back, most of the time embarrassed at being one upped by a child!
Damn I thought this was going to be about how amazing Shabbat naps are haha
I always assumed (upon witnessing it / being its recipient) that it was a nervous tick or a symptom of, G-d forbid, mild Parkinsons.
the difference between the jew nod adn the goy nod is that the jew nod is in the downward idrection whereas the goy nod is a quite jerk in the upward direction. at least it is down here in the south…
We don’t have the nod here, but I play a guessing game when walking with friends. Each person has to take a turn wishing Jews in the street either good shabbos or shabbat shalom. If you guessed the phrase they will reply, you get one point.
I wrote a letter to the Jewish Press a few years ago about this. These reprobates in Flatbush can’t acknowledge the existence of someone who is not like them so instead of speaking and saying Good shabbos (which some may misinterpret as G-d forbid talking to someone less frum then you thereby increasing the likelihood that you will never find a shiduch) they choose to nod the head as if you are an animal.
it appears that when they nod to you its either because they agree, accept, aknowledge, or they are on heroin….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nod_(gesture)
Honestly frum did it get published?
I say Shabbat Shalom to everyone I pass on shabbat. Most people reply one way or another – either Good Shabbos, or Shabbat Shalom, or the nod, or even the nod with the eyebrow raise, and sometimes just the halfway heil Hitler (Y”S) salute. But there is one guy that walks to shul every Shabbat (I am on my way home already at the time because I daven hashkama) with a siddur in his hands apparently davening, so he just looks up and gives a very slight almost imperceptible nod.
What is the difference between a deep nod and a half nod? I hadn’t realized there was a difference!
(I’m from a small community, sorry I had to ask! lol)
here in the midwest, we get a mixture of the nod and the good shabbos’. but generaly the nods dont come from the natives.
as a girl who lives in brooklyn and i say good shabbos to all the girls.
it cracks me up when chassidic guys look down at the ground- don’t they ever walk into things when they walk with their heads down ? i have always wondered about that, but i don’t know how I’ll find out.