Shalom!

I’ve just greeted you ‘Peace!’

The Hebrews greet each other with the word ‘Shalom’, that is corresponding to a hello and goodbye. It may also connote that you are greeting the other person and asking if all is okay with them. In English terms, we used to greet people with “Hello! How are you?”

‘Shalom’ is a biblical word meaning peace, completeness and welfare. It is equivalent to ‘Salaam’ in Arabic.

We greet people in a lot of ways.. and especially if we visit a new place or country, we have a tendency to adapt to their language and try to twist our tongues to use their native greetings. But how much do we mean of the word that’s coming out of our lips?

When we ask people the question, ‘How are you?’, are we really interested to know how they really are? Or has it just become the usual greeting that we use and being really concerned or not about the welfare of the other person is disregarded most of the time.

When we say ‘Shalom’ or ‘Salaam’, do we really mean peace to them?

I believe that no matter what language we use, we should be sincere in the greetings that we give to people. Let’s not ask how they are if we’re not really concerned or interested to know. Let’s not say ‘Shalom’ or ‘Salaam’ if we don’t intend to give them what the words really mean.

Just say ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’ and it’s gonna be just fine.

So, how are you, my dear friends?

I am 'sincerely' interested to know.

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Shalom, in the liturgy and in the transcendent message of the Christian scriptures, means more than a state of mind, of being or of affairs. Derived from the Hebrew root shalam – meaning to be safe or complete, and by implication, to be friendly or to reciprocate. Shalom, as term and message, seems to encapsulate a reality and hope of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole world. To say joy and peace, meaning a state of affairs where there is no dispute or war, does not begin to describe the sense of the term. Completeness seems to be at the center of shalom as we will see in the meaning of the term itself, in some derivatives from its root, shalam, in some examples of its uses in Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and in some homophone terms from other Semitic languages.   

The noun shalom means safe, for example, well and happy. On a more abstract application, its use points to welfare, for example, health, prosperity, and, peace. In the verb form shalam, though, that provides a deeper understanding of this term in theology, doctrine, and liturgy. Literally translated, shalam signals to a state of safety, but figuratively it points to completeness. In its use in Scripture, shalom describes the actions that lead to a state of soundness, or better yet wholeness. So to say, shalom seems not to merely speak of a state of affairs, but describes a process, an activity, a movement towards fullness. Using the King James Version as reference, James Strong lists the rendering of shalom and shalam, among others, as: • To make amends • To make good • To be (or to make) peace • To restore • Peace • Prosperity • Wellness • Wholeness

-From Wikipedia