what the Hebrew name “Shiloh” means
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| sunrise over Shiloh of today |
This one’s for June and Elisheva at AACI, Jerusalem.
The name שִׁלֹה (shee-LOH) appears in the Torah portion to be read tomorrow by Jews the world over. It appears more often, however, in the Prophets, where the town hosting the Tabernacle before the building of the First Temple bears that name. Today an Israeli settlement named שילה is built upon the ruins of that ancient Israelite town, in Samaria (West Bank).
שילה is also a fairly common name given to boys, especially from religious families, in Israel today (as well as to the daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). But why?
Rashi and Onkelos interpret Judah’s prophesied “arrival at Shiloh” (Genesis 49:10) as predicting the arrival of the Messiah, associating the name שילה with the word שֶׁלּו (sheh-LOH), meaning his – that is, the Jewish leadership belongs to him – to Judah. Thus שילה is linked with a great time of peace and goodness to come. The letters of שילה also evoke the words שִׁלְיָה (sheel-YAH) meaning placenta (birth of a new era, birth of a great leader), and שַׁלְוָה (shahl-VAH), meaning serenity.
שבת שלום וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom and a pleasant weekend to all!
