Though I generally prefer greeting family, students, and friends with a hug, especially lately, as we need more daily support, a handshake literally transmits camaraderie and broadcasts agreement and friendship. The handshake may have originated as a demonstration of peaceful intent, since it shows that the hand holds no weapon, or as a symbolic gesture of mutual commitment to an oath, promise, or alliance. Two hands clasping each other represents the sealing of a bond, of two becoming as one.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l, concluded an address to a group of Israeli Paralympic athletes in 1976, expressing the significance of a handshake alluded to in the Torah. The Ten Commandments were given on two tablets – five engraved on each one – together forming a covenant with Hashem. Likewise, he explained, when two Jews shake hands, the five fingers of one person become intertwined with the five fingers of the other, together forming a covenant reflecting the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. As such, when two people share a handshake, they are not only expressing peace, promise and commitment to the other, but are also recognizing their covenant with G-d and Divine Providence manifest in every relationship.
