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Shalom aleichem

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Shalom aleikhem,Shuloim Akaikhem, or sholoim aleikhem (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם shālôm ʻalêḵem; Yiddish: שלום־עליכם sholem aleykhem) is a greeting version in Hebrew, meaning "peace be upon you". The appropriate response is "aleikhem shalom" Yiddish: עליכם־שלום, or "upon you be peace".

This form of greeting is traditional among Jews throughout the world. The greeting is more common amongst Ashkenazi Jewish. It first found in Bereishit (Genesis) 43:23 and occurs six times in the Jerusalem Talmud. Only the plural form is used even when addressing one person. A religious explanation for this is that one greets both the body and the soul, but Hebrew does occasionally use the plural as a sign of respect (e.g. a name of God is Elohim אלוהים literally gods, but in essence, a title of God)

Other languages

Several languages share cognates to this greeting. The related Arabic language variation, (السلام عليكم) as-salāmu ʿalaykum, is used by Muslims of innumerable lingual and ethnic backgrounds. As-salāmu ʿalaykum and its variants are used by Muslims outside of the Arab world in Indonesia, Central Asia, Iran, Sahel Africa and many other places. Aramaic and classical Syriac use ܫܼܠܡ ܠܟܘܢ Shlam 'lekhon which means peace for you.

See also