NUM55 Shalom--what a beautiful word. We use it when we greet one another, as if to say, "Come in peace." It always carries Sabbath overtones, for our doubly meaningful greeting on the day of rest is "Shabbat Shalom." We use it when we leave one another, as if to say, "Go in peace until we meet again." But this is not a simplistic, passive statement. The root sh-l-m conveys the meanings "complete," "whole," or even "perfect." So to say "shalom" is to breathe the air of Jewish hope and human aspiration, wishing that the day will come soon when we are all fulfilled. No wonder, then, that loving peace, as the Psalmist puts it, or living to create peace, as the rabbis glorify it, is a climactic Jewish ideal, the outcome of worthy living, the chief virtue of Jewish character. The talmudic sages share this view and give shalom important mention in Jewish observance. Insisting that the whole purpose of the Torah is to create peace, they have directed that each time we complete our Torah reading, we return this precious scroll to the ark and chant: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are shalom" (Proverbs 3:17). We learn from those who compiled our traditional liturgy: "What was their reason for calling the morning petition for peace, sim shalom? Because it is written, 'So the priests shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and then I shall bless them' [this verse]. And the truest blessing of the Holy One is peace'" (Meg. 18a). The rabbis also made the prayer for peace the climax of our daily services, as a request for peace concludes the threefold priestly benediction: "May Adonai lift up His countenance to you and give shalom" [Numbers 6:26). Today many worship services end with a petition from Psalms, affirming this paramount virtue in our tradition: "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace" (Ps. 29:11).