Shalom / Salaam / Shalem: New Beginnings, Ancient Values

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The most common greeting in the Hebrew language, “shalom,” has many layered meanings. While many people know shalom as a catch-all for hello, goodbye, and peace, its shoresh, or root, of shin-lamed-mem (ש–ל–ם) conveys additional meanings in the context of the Abraham Accord. Drawing on this root, shalom interconnects the practice of tashlum, in a dual sense of payment and appreciation, as well as shalem that encompasses wholeness among body, mind, and a state of being.

After the accord was unveiled, Israeli and Emirati businesspeople expressed hope for huge trade deals between the two countries, and airlines filed for permits to fly nonstop between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. As they advance the high-minded ideal of shalom, (שָׁלוֹם, peace), these new ties will revolve around tashlumim (תַּשְׁלוּמִים, payments) between the parties who will join together as partners, greeting each other with shalom (and salaam, in Arabic), as they partake of a whole (shalem, שָׁלֵם) relationship between their countries and their peoples.

If things proceed as planned, it’s only a matter of time before Israelis and Emiratis will be able to travel back and forth, engage in trade and tourism, and—remarkably, naturally—greet each other as friends. We can almost hear the intonations of salaam in Tel Aviv and shalom in Abu Dhabi.