Yiddish Names of Peace

Peace (shalom) is one of the most important concepts in Judaism. The daily liturgy ends with a prayer for peace, the priestly blessing concludes with 'and grant you peace,' and the Talmud declares that the entire Torah exists for the sake of peace.

Names expressing this ideal are found throughout Yiddish and Hebrew tradition. Sholem is the direct Yiddish form of Shalom. Shlomo (Solomon) derives from the same root. Zalman, a Yiddish form of Solomon, carries the same peaceful associations. For girls, Freeda (from German 'Friede,' meaning peace) served as a Yiddish translation of the concept.

In a people whose history has been marked by persecution and displacement, names of peace carry special weight — they are both a prayer for the child's personal life and an expression of the messianic hope for universal peace.