Shelem, Shulam, Shalom

I’m not a student of Hebrew, but little bits and pieces of the language drift in and out of my life, and often fascinate me. I’ll request here that my Hebrew speaking friends correct me if I mis-speak below…

Shelem means “to pay for” something, while Shulam means “to be fully paid” for something. Two very similar words, and two sides of the same coin, so to speak. When looked at together, they represent reconciliation, completeness, balance, harmony.

Change just a couple letters, and we have the similar and related word “Shalom”, which I’ve always understood to be a bit like the Italian Ciao, the Hawaiian Aloha, or the Indian Namaste. Sometimes a greeting, sometimes a parting.

The difference is that Shalom always carries a meaning of “peace be with you” as part of the expression in my mind.

Come to find out, it’s a much bigger word really. While “peace” is a word I could use to describe the meaning, I could also use words like completeness, wholeness, health and welfare, perfectness, fullness.

Complete reconciliation with the Universe.

Perfect wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken.

Exquisite harmony with every piece of the Cosmos.

Peace – with a capital “P” I suppose.

A very big word indeed…

Shalom!