SHALOM Origin of surname
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a patronymic surname derived from a male ancestor's personal name, in this case of biblical origin.
Shalom means "peace" in Hebrew. It is also a popular male personal name, probably derived from the biblical personal name Shlomo (Solomon). Shlomo, meaning "man of peace", son of King David and Bath Sheva, was the third king of Israel and Judah. Many Jewish family name have developed from Shlomo/Solomon/Salomon and its variants. Solomon is documented in the 7th century in France; Salman in 1090 in Germany; Salemanus in 1200, also in Germany; Salmon (1290), Saulmon (1306), Salmannus (1334) and Salamon (1388) in France; Scholem in 1495 in Germany; Sollomon in 1668 in America; Salom in 1713 in the Antilles; Salmonaba in 1715 in Italy; Schlam in 1717 in Germany; Salme, Schlomen, Schlumen, Scholum and Schaulom in 1784 in Alsace; Salimen in 1798 in America; Salem in the 18th century in the Netherlands; Salmang in 1831 in Germany; and Salomson in 1855 in America. In the mid 20th century, Solomon families in France changed their names to Aumond and Laumont, and the Polish variant Solomonowicz (meaning "Solomon's son") was Frenchified to Alamont. Arabic forms of Solomon include Sellam, Saloma, Calama and Suleyman. Variants like Salaman, Salmen, Zalman, Zalkind, Zalkin, Zalheim, Zaling, Zalinger, Salinger and Zeling became frequent in Central and Eastern European countries.
Scialom is recorded as a Jewish surname in the 19th century, with A. de M. Scialom, of Italian nationality, in a list of commercial enterprises established in Tunis in 1865; and in the 20th century with the councilor Victor Scialom (1871-194?) from Tunis; and with the physician Dario Scialom (1880-1966) from the Grana Jewish community (Jews from Livorno, Italy, who settled in Tunis since the 16th century).
Distinguished bearers of the surname Chalom include the Tunisian attorney and author Jacques Chalom (1878-1955), who published a book about the Jews in Tunisia called 'Les Israelites de la Tunisie: Leur condition civile et politique' (Paris 1908). In the 20th century Chalom is documented as a Jewish family name during World War II with Jacques Chalom who was deported from France to the German death camp at Auschwitz in September 1942.
Shalom is documented as a Jewish family name in the 15th century with the Spanish philosopher and translator, Abraham Ben Judah (Ben Itzhak) Shalom and the physician Abraham Shalom, and in the 16th century with the Greek-born Eretz Israel rabbi, Abraham Shalom.
Distinguished 20th century bearers of the Jewish family name Shalom include the Polish-born Israeli Hebrew poet and Bialik prize winner Shin Shalom, president of the Israel Writers' Association, (also known as Shalom Shapira), and the businessman Isaac I. Shalom (1886-1968) from Aleppo, Syria.
Salom Italia
(Personality)Salom Italia (also Salomo d'Italia) (c.1619-c.1655), copper engraver, most probably born in Mantua, Italy. It is assumed that the siege by the Habsburg troops in 1629-1630 led him to leave Mantua and move to Venice. Eventually, he settled in Amsterdam, most likely around 1641, where he embarked on his career as an artist. It is presumed that he remained active in Amsterdam until his passing. As one of the few Jewish artists in the city, he left his mark with ten known signed works, two of which are dated. His copper engravings primarily revolved around the Book of Esther. Notably, he gained recognition for his portraits of the rabbis Jacob Judah Leon (1641 and another in 1647) and Manasse ben Israel (1642). Additionally, he pioneered a novel approach to illustrating parchment scrolls of the Book of Esther. He also illustrated ketubot (Jewish marriage contracts) during his time in Amsterdam.
Gerona
(Place)Gerona
Girona; Lat. Gerunda
A city in Catalonia, northeastern Spain.
It had one of the most important Jewish communities in the region, probably dating back to the end of the ninth century. Houses in the Jewish quarter are mentioned in documents from the mid-tenth century. Jews who owned land in Gerona and its surroundings had to pay a tithe to the church. In 1160 they were permitted to lease shops built outside the city walls. The community was concentrated in a locality still called Montjuich (Jews' mount). Remains of the public baths and tombstones have been preserved. Jews began to take part in the administration in the 13th century. Noteworthy were the Baile (bailiff) Bondia Gracian, Benveniste de Porta, and Astruc Ravaya and his son Joseph, both members of the Court of Pedro III of Aragon. They served as administrative officers and their signatures in Hebrew appear on numerous documents. Solomon b. Adret cooperated with them in the Jewish communal leadership.
About 1271 the communities of Gerona and Besalu, which formed a joint collecta, or tax administrative unit, paid a total of 20,000 solidos, approximately half the sum paid by the community of Barcelona. In the 13th century the priests of the local cathedral chapter instituted the custom of casting stones on the Jewish quarter from the cathedral tower at Easter, sometimes causing much damage. In 1278 Pedro III threatened to hold the bishop responsible for such actions. At Easter 1331 rioters broke into the Jewish quarter. In 1285 the Jews in Gerona took part in its defense against the French; they suffered when the latter occupied the city, and again when it was recaptured by Pedro III. From the end of the 13th century Jews were forced out of their positions in the local administration, mention is made of Jewish landowners cultivating their own land, and some Jews of Gerona settled in other cities under royal protection. Nevertheless, the Gerona community absorbed Jews expelled from France in 1306.
In 1258 James I of Aragon empowered the Jews in Gerona and nearby Besalu to appoint five persons to punish tax offenders. In 1279 Pedro III granted Benedict Jonah of Gerona and Solomon b. Adret sole jurisdiction over the community. In 1341 certain notables from Barcelona drafted regulations for the Gerona community concerning the election of trustees, auditors, criers (makhrizim), and a dual council with 26 members in one section and 16 members in the other. The community was dominated by an oligarchy, which in 1386 was torn by a violent quarrel resulting in the intervention of the authorities. In April 1391 the community of Gerona was given a new constitution, specifying the names of 23 persons entitled to serve on the council, some for life and others for a three-year term. The council was to appoint magistrates (borerim), trustees, and a salaried treasurer, and tax collector. The latter had to be chosen from among the lesser taxpayers, and relatives of trustees were not eligible for the post. In 1459 John II provided for the election by lot of a treasurer, trustees, two magistrates, and two tax assessors.
During the 1391 persecutions the majority of the Jews of Gerona chose martyrdom. A few were converted to Christianity, mainly merchants and artisans. Some Jews found refuge in the citadel and others managed to escape to Perpignan. The community had already been reconstituted by 1392. The Jews of Gerona were compelled to send two representatives to the disputation of Tortosa, which resulted in an intensified tendency to conversion as well as increased attacks on Jews. However, the city authorities and King Ferdinand took action to protect the Jews in Gerona (1413-14). In 1415 the King ordered that the synagogue in Calle San Lorenzo, and the adjoining public bath, should be restored to the Jews. The synagogue was partly destroyed during the civil war in 1462-72.
The decline of the Gerona community continued throughout the 15th century. In 1431 the last treasurer (gabbai) of the charitable trust (hekdesh) became converted; Alfonso V ordered him to remain in office and to distribute the money at his disposal to both Christian and Jewish poor, but mainly to the Christians as the majority of the Jews had become converted. In 1442 the area of the Jewish quarter was reduced. A reflection of the state of affairs in the community in 1470 is the will of the widow of one Solomon Shalom, expressing the desire that her Jewish son and Christian daughter should live in peace and unity. In 1486 the Jews were prohibited from owning shops with windows and doors facing the main street. When the edict of expulsion of the Jews from Spain was issued in 1492, there was a small community in Gerona. Most of its members went into exile. The remains of the synagogue were sold for ten florins to a canon of the cathedral and the remaining property owned by Jews to the municipal notary and other citizens.
At the height of its prosperity the Gerona community was a center of learning and produced celebrated scholars, many of whom are known by the cognomen Gerondi, i.e., themselves Ghirondi. In the 1230s Gerona was one of the centers of the movement opposing the teachings of Maimonides. Distinguished scholars active there at the period were Jonah Gerondi and his great disciple Nachmanides, who wrote an account of the disputation of Barcelona for the bishop of Gerona. The primary importance of Gerona in Jewish history is that it became the first center of Kabbalism in Spain; a group was formed there in the mid-13th century, in which Ezra b. Solomon, Azriel b. Menahem, and their associates were leading figures. Nachmanides also had connexions with their chavurah kedoshah (sacred association), which had a decisive influence on the development of Kabbalah. Other noteworthy personalities included Zerachiah Ha-Levi Gerondi, who left Gerona while a youth; Jonah Gergerondi the Younger (active 1270s); Nissim b. Reuben Gerondi (mid-14th century); David Bonjorn, a native of Perpignan lived in Gerona at the end of the 14th century; Abraham b. Isaac Ha-Levi, a distinguished communal leader (14th century); and in the 15th century, Bonastruc Desmaestre and Bonjudah Yechasel Hakashlari who both took part in the Tortosa Disputation.