Shalom Aleichem

Shalom Aleichem

Shalom aleikhem (or sholom aleikhem) (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם‎ shālôm ʻalêḵem; Yiddish: שלום־עליכם sholem aleykhem) is a greeting version in Hebrew, meaning "peace be upon you" (literally: "peace to 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).