“SHALOM” in Hebrew, means “peace” as well as “hello and goodbye.”
It comes from the word “sha-laym”, meaning full or complete.

On this shawl, the word shalom is repeated through the middle band of blue, surrounded on the top and bottom with its first and last letters, shin and mem.

Shin and mem are two of the three Mother letters in the Hebrew alphabet. It is told that with their primary energies, they give birth to all the other letters in the alphabet.

The Jewish Mystical Kabbalists would break down a word into its component root letters and then use the mystical meanings of each letter to arrive at a deeper meaning.

Shin is associated with the element of Fire and the qualities of might and judgment. Mem is associated with the element of water and the qualities of mercy and kindness. In normal circumstances fire would be nullified by water, as they oppose one another. Peace between them happens from an infusion of higher consciousness from above. According to Rebbe Nachman, ”The Holy One, blessed be He, makes peace between them, so that they should not oppose one another, through a revelation – so that an immense illumination…from the infinite light is revealed within them.”¹ He goes on to explain that this kind of peace only happens as we turn towards that which is truly sovereign within us.