Beth Shalom

(בית שלום in Hebrew)

The Shalom dynasty, or Mishpahath HaShalomi as they were known as until the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem around AD 70, became a symbol of Jewish longing for a return to the Land of Israel during their 2000 year exile in Mesopotamia, later Iraq. The dynasty, which had branches in Mosul and Baghdad until Iraqi Jewry was expelled in 1951, was highly regarded among Iraq's Jewish community producing noted scholars such as Rabbi Bezek Shalom and his grandson, the mystic Tsurishadai Shalom. However, the family was also widely respected in non-Jewish cirlces as several members of the dynasty were advisers and physicians to the Ottoman court in Baghdad. Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: Eretz Yisrael) refers to the land making up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... Mesopotamia ( Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan the Land between the Rivers or the Aramaic name Beth-Nahrin two rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... Mosūl (Kurdish: Mûsil, Arabic: موصل, al Mawsil) or Nineveh (Syriac: ܢܝܢܘܐ) is a city in northern Iraq/Central Assyria. ... A street map of Baghdad Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (بغداد) is the capital of Iraq and the Baghdad Province. ...

The family retained its own trop for bible-reading and pronunciation of Hebrew similar to that of the ancient Israelites, characterised by the letters waw (instead of vav) and dlimmel (instead of gimmel). The family was noted for its piety and supported many charitable institutions, and may have comprised over 10 000 people in 1951.

During WWII clan leader Ovadia-Nimrod Shalom sent 5 representatives of the family to China and Japan to provide spiritual guidance to several thousand European Jews who had fled there to escape Nazi persecution in Poland. Whilst there, the Shaloms managed to protect the property of the local inhabitants from the illiterate Hao-Ming mafia gangs, which won them much admiration from local residents. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...

Today, Beth Shalom is mainly concentrated in Israel (Tel Aviv and Haifa) and in London, England. Amazingly, the oldest child of each family in the dynasty has, for the last 2000 years, almost without exception, married into the dynasty, and members can trace their lineage to Joshua, who became the leader of the children of Israel after the death of Moses. Tel Aviv at night Dizengof Center Allenby Street Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew תל אביב-יפו; Arabic تل ابيب-يافا Tal Abīb-Yāfā) is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. ... For the Lebanese singer, see Haifa Wahbe Haifa (Hebrew חיפה; Arabic حيفا Ḥayfā) is the third-largest city in Israel, with a population close to 300,000. ... Joshua or Yehoshúa (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ The LORD of/is help/court, Standard Hebrew Yəhošúaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew Yəhôšuªʿ) is a Biblical character, much of whose life is described in the Book of Joshua. ... Moses or Móshe (מֹשֶׁה, Standard Hebrew Móše, Tiberian Hebrew Mōšeh, Arabic موسى), son of Amram and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. ...

Prominent family members include Silvan Shalom, the foreign minister of the State of Israel, whose grandparents emigrated to Tunisia from Iraq, and Television news anchor Haim Yavin married into the family, as did Scottish singer Annie Lennox, and chemist Clive Pearce. Silvan Shalom (b. ... Annie Lennox (born December 25, 1954) is a singer from Aberdeen, Scotland. ...