Just One Word That Can Change Your Life

You won't learn this in high school and not even in college. In fact, it's not taught anywhere. That’s surprising because it’s available to everyone, all the time – yet most of us don’t pay any attention to it. And it’s just one word! For many people, this word can change their entire day, perhaps even their entire life.

A significant percentage of today's psychological complexes could be avoided if people just used this word more often. When you think about it, we all suffer from negative and toxic atmospheres around us, all because of the shortage of this one word. How pleasant our lives could be. Just one word! That's all! It’s an amazing word...

In its presence we’re filled with energy and we’re so much happier. We feel closer to everyone around us. We shed our tension and flex our smile muscles. Everything just seems to flow.

In its absence we feel bitter, angry, and lonely. We pick fault with everyone and everyone picks fault with us. We feel constantly drained, exhausted from the non-stop stress and the sense that we’re up against the whole world. We fall ill. Everything seems to be falling apart.

Everything is contained in one word.

The word is – Shalom.

“They said about Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai that no one managed to greet him first, not even a gentile in the marketplace” (Talmud Berachot 17). Picture this: Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, the leader of the entire Jewish People at the time of the destruction of the Temple, a man who carried the burden of all of the nation’s needs and was also immersed in the holy Torah – “he didn't neglect Scripture, Mishnah, Gemara, Halachot and Aggadot, nuances of Torah and numerical interpretations, astronomical calculations ... conversations with ministering angels ... and the workings of the Divine Chariot”! (Sukkah 28)

Picture this great man of whom it was said that never was he so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn’t manage to greet everyone he encountered before they had time to get their own greeting in first.

And notice that the Talmud stresses “everyone.” Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai didn’t reserve his greetings for prominent people or great sages. He greeted everyone.

Indeed, the Talmud tells us (in Pirkei Avot—Ethics of the Fathers) that Shammai said: “Receive every person with a pleasant countenance.”

There are no excuses. No matter how important you are or how busy you might be, greeting others and saying, “Shalom” should be a basic and integral part of your life.

So, say Shalom! Preferably with a smile.