Shalom aleichem (/ʃəˌlɒməˈleɪxəm,ˌʃoʊləm-/;Hebrew:שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶםšālōm ʿalēḵem[ʃaˈloːmʕaleːˈxem],lit. 'peace be upon you')[1][2] is a greeting in the Hebrew language. When someone is greeted with these words, the appropriate response isaleichem shalom (עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם,lit. 'unto you peace').[3][4] The termaleichem is plural, but is still used when addressing one person.
This form of greeting is traditional amongJews worldwide, and typically connotes areligious context. It is particularly common amongAshkenazi Jews.
Biblical figures greet each other withšālōm lǝkā (šālōm to you, m. singular) oršālōm lākem (plural).
The termšālōm ʿālēkā (masculine singular) is first attested in the Scroll of Blessings for the First Month (before 30 BCE), aDead Sea Scroll, where it is spelled, in their manner, with a finalhe.
The pluralšālōm ʿălēkem first appears in theJerusalem Talmud (c. 400 CE), always with a plural object. It occurs there six times and the response is to repeatšālōm ʿălēkem. According to y. Sheviit 4:3, it was specifically a Jewish greeting at this time.
Šālōm ʿālēkā appears many times in theTalmud Bavli (c. 500 CE) andLeviticus Rabbah (contested date), where the response is to repeatšālōm ʿālēkā.[5]
The inverted responseʿālēkā šālōm (masculine singular) is first attested in theMidrash Abba Gorion (before 1050 CE), in the gloss onEsther 3:5:
"What didHaman do when he passed by andMordechai did not rise to greet him?[a] He came from one side and made as if Mordechai had greeted him,[b] saying 'ʿālēkā šālōm,' but Mordechai replied, 'theLORD says there is no šālōm for the wicked.'" —Isaiah 48:22
The plural greeting and response became common amongAshkenazi Jews in the second half of the next millennium, as the use of plural forms to denote respect was imported fromFrench andGerman.[6]
In most communities, one saysShalom aleichem to three people who respondAleichem shalom as part of theKiddush levana ritual.[6]
Many otherSemitic languages (the language family to whichHebrew belongs), as well as someIndo-European languages, share cognates to this greeting.
AmongArabs, the variationas-salāmuʿalaikum (Arabic:ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُم,lit. 'peace be upon you') has been a traditional greeting since before the rise of Islam[7] with the appropriate responsewa ʿalaykumu s-salām (وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَام,lit. 'and unto you peace') first attested byFakhr al-Din al-Razi.[8] Following theearly Muslim conquests in the 7th century, it was established as a prevalent greeting among many non-ArabMuslims.
InClassical Syriac, the termshlama 'allāwkhon (ܫܠܡܐ ܥܠܘܟ݂ܘܢ,lit. 'peace on you') is prevalent.
Similar greetings gained prominence with the rise ofEuropean Christianity. Within theCatholic Church and theEastern Orthodox Church, bishops and priests initially use the liturgical greeting "peace be with you" (Greek:Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν;Latin:Pax vobiscum) during divine services. During theMass, Catholic priests who are not bishops say "the Lord be with you" (Dóminus vobíscum), with "and with your spirit" being the appropriate response. Bishops and priests also use the somewhat similar greeting "the peace of the Lord be with you always" during the Mass. In the Orthodox Church, the greeting is always "peace be with you" during services.
Similarly, "peace be with you" is used withinAnglicanism, particularly within the liturgies of theEpiscopal Church and others in theAnglican Communion, with the "and also with you" being the appropriate response. In the liturgy of theLutheran Church, the greeting by the pastor is "the peace ofChrist be with you always" followed by "and also with you" as the congregation's response. Others, such as thePresbyterian Church and theChurch of the Brethren, have similar traditional greetings.
The greeting inspired the traditional folk songHevenu Shalom Aleichem, which was eventually translated to many languages and became popular in peace demonstrations abroad.