Word Prompt - HANDSHAKE - Yisroel Picker

“Let’s shake on it.”

Handshakes can mean hello, goodbye, or an acceptance of an agreement. Handshakes can be used to inspire trust. Which is probably why people ask to “shake” on a deal.

But handshakes can mean even more than that.

Watch inside the dugouts at a major league baseball game. See how some players have special, choreographed handshakes.Think back to your childhood years, when some kids had “secret handshakes.” Handshakes are more than just trust; they can build a bond.

During the recent pandemic, the request was that we keep “social distancing.”

A good friend of mine did not like this terminology. He insisted that humans are social creatures, and we will continue to be social. He insisted that the correct term was actually “physical distancing.” But as the handshakes show us, the physical can enhance our social.

So even though we were still talking and communicating during Covid-19, the lack of handshakes and other physical contact did cause a social distancing, in addition to the physical distancing.