Page 19 - Shalom: The Peace That Comes From Being Whole
P. 19
CHAPTER 4
“WHAT IS YOUR PEACE?”
When I began studying Hebrew, we memo-
rized simple conversations. Some of those be-
gan with two people greeting each other with
the ancient Hebrew greeting used from Bible
times till today. “What is your peace?”
Of course, we had to speak Hebrew. The
difficulty came because one has to address the
greeting with either a masculine ending or a
feminine ending, depending on whether one
is greeting a man or a lady.
The Hebrew word for “what” is “Ma.”
So to greet a male, one asks, “Ma Shalomcha?”
To greet a female, one asks, “Ma Shalomech?”
Seems simple enough; but I still catch my-
self using the wrong ending at times.
As Mr. Horowitz pointed out, from the ba-
sic meaning, the greeting inquires as to what is
your peace, your wholeness. Is anything bro-
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