Love Trump or hate him, all Jews should object to his appropriation of ‘Shalom’

In a recent article for JTA, Sarah Bunin Benor, Ph.D., Director, Jewish Language Project; Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Linguistics argues that Trump’s use of the Hebrew word meaning hello, goodbye and peace stokes antisemitism.

“As a scholar who studies Jewish languages, I have collected countless examples of Jews around the world using variants of the Hebrew word “shalom” to mean peace – and, by extension, to offer peaceful greeting and parting words.

Yiddish speakers greet each other with “sholem aleichem” and Juhuri speakers (from Azerbaijan) with “sholumi.” American Jewish organizations often greet callers and guests, “Shalom, welcome to [organization].”

Shalom and its feminine equivalent Shlomit are personal names, and many Jewish organizations are named Shalom, such as an Australian collective, a Turkish newspaper and hundreds of synagogues: Beth Shalom (house of peace), Rodef Shalom (pursuer of peace), Ohev Shalom (lover of peace)…”