--- Begin Message ---
-----Original Message-----
From: Audrie Berman [mailto:educator (at) congregationsinai(dot)org]
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 2:18 PM
To: Jerry Kaye (E-mail)
Subject: Saalam and Shalom
Dear Jerry,
Rabbi Cohen just passed this note on to me about the differences
between the Hebrew-Jewish concept of Shalom vs. Saalam. I thought you'd be
interested because of your views on "Od Yavo". I guess when you're right,
you're right. Now you have another reason why!
Audrie Berman
Educator
Congregation Sinai
8223 N. Port Washington Road
Milwaukee, WI 53217
Phone 414-352-2970, fax 414-352-0944
this comes from a linguist acquaintance....
Here's a forth example. (And now I turn to something I
actually
understand well: language.) The Arabic word for "peace" ---
SALAAM
--- is closer to the Latin PAX ROMANA than to SHALOM.
SHALOM is a
lack of war, a peaceful co-existence. SALAAM is conquest by
the
victor and oppression of the loser. The last time I was in
the Arab
market in Jerusalem, I bought a cassette tape of songs of
"SALAAM," in
Arabic, and I had the songs professionally translated. The
songs are
about gory war, martyrs, warriers, etc. Yet the title of
the cassette
was clearly "songs of peace," using the Arabic word SALAAM.
Clearly,
SALAAM is *not* co-existence or what we would call "peace."
(Gives a
whole new meaning to the song "OD YAVO," doesn't it?)
--- End Message ---