Shalom Aleichem: Welcoming Angels

The Song That Opens Every Shabbos Table

There is a moment on Friday night, just after you come home from shul, when the whole week falls away. The candles are lit. The table is set. The house smells like challah and something warm on the stove. And before anything else happens, before Kiddush, before the meal, you sing.

Shalom Aleichem is a Friday-night song traditionally sung in Jewish homes every week. The Gemara (Shabbos 119b) teaches that two malachim accompany a person home from shul on Friday night. When they find the lamp lit, the table set, and the bed prepared for Shabbos, the good malach says: “May it be so next Shabbos as well,” and the other malach answers amen. This song is part of the way many Jewish homes welcome the peace and kedushah of Shabbos into the home.

Before You Sing

Stand for a moment before you begin. The week was long. There were things you meant to do and things that did not go the way you planned. Set all of that down now. Shabbos is here. The malachim are here now, and so is a chance to begin again. Before you sing, speak to Hashem from your heart:

Ribono Shel Olam, I have come home. The week is behind me and Your Shabbos is before me. Please let the kedushah of this night fill my home and my family. Send Your malachim to watch over us. Let the warmth of this table bring us closer to each other and closer to You. In the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, may my tefillos rise before You tonight. Elokah d’Meir aneni.

Important note: If you want to connect this moment with tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, the tzedakah should be given before Shabbos. It should not be given on Shabbos itself. If you did not give before Shabbos, you can have in mind to give it after Shabbos.

If giving tzedakah, add:

n the zechus of the tzedakah I gave before Shabbos, or that I intend to give after Shabbos, for Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, please bring shalom into my home this Shabbos and every Shabbos. Ribono Shel Olam, I am caring for Your children in Eretz Yisrael. Please watch over mine.

Shalom Aleichem: The Full Prayer

Shalom Aleichem is a Friday-night zemirah built around the Gemara in Shabbos 119b. The Gemara says that two ministering angels accompany a person home from shul on Friday night, one good and one adverse. If they find the home prepared for Shabbos, with the lamp lit, the table set, and the bed arranged, the good angel says, “May it be Your will that it be this way next Shabbos as well,” and the other angel answers Amen against his will. The four stanzas of Shalom Aleichem reflect that scene: we greet the malachim, welcome them, ask for bracha, and then send them off in peace.

What These Words Mean for You

Sholom aleichem mal’achei hashores “Peace upon you, ministering angels.”

The word shalom means more than a greeting. It points to peace, wholeness, and settledness. Chazal say in Shabbos 10b that “Shalom” is one of Hashem’s names. So when we begin with Sholom aleichem, the song does more than greet the malachim. It frames the home as a place ready for the peace of Shabbos.

Bo’achem l’sholom “May your coming be in peace.”

The first stanza greets the malachim. The second stanza welcomes them in. There is a difference. Greeting someone at the door and actually bringing them inside are two different things. We are not just acknowledging the angels from a distance. We are opening the door wide. Think of the people you love sitting around your Shabbos table. When they come through the door, you want them to feel that they belong. That is what this stanza does. It tells the malachim, and through them Hashem, that the kedushah of Shabbos is welcome inside your walls, not just at the threshold.

Borchuni l’sholom “Bless me with peace.”

This is the heart of the shalom aleichem prayer. After we have greeted the malachim and welcomed them in, we ask them for something very personal: bless me. The word borchuni comes from the root ב-ר-כ, which is connected to bracha, blessing. We are asking the malachim to carry our request before Hashem. Bless this home. Bless this family. Bless this table. Not because we deserve it, but because Shabbos is a gift and we want to receive it fully. The Gemara (Shabbos 119b) says that when the malach sees the home ready, his bracha comes naturally. Your preparation is already part of the tefillah.

Tzeischem l’sholom “May your departure be in peace.”

This final stanza can sound surprising. After welcoming the malachim, why do we send them off? The Gemara itself does not explain that line explicitly, so it is better to explain it modestly: once the malachim have accompanied us home and the bracha of a prepared Shabbos home has been spoken, we bid them farewell in peace. The focus of the night is not on the malachim themselves, but on the kedushah of Shabbos in the home.

How to Say This Zemirah

Shalom Aleichem is commonly sung on Friday night after coming home from shul and before Kiddush. Many families sing all four stanzas, often repeating each stanza three times.

Many families have a melody they have used for years. If you do not have one, any tune will do. Some people hum along quietly. Some sing loud enough for the neighbors to hear. What matters is that your heart is in the words. Hashem does not need a perfect voice. He needs a present one.

As you sing, set your kavanah on the image the Gemara gives us. Two malachim walking beside you on the way home. They see the candles. They see the table. They see a home that was prepared for Shabbos with care. Your kavanah might be as simple as this: “Hashem, I prepared my home for You. Please let Your bracha rest here tonight.”

Many people also try to enter Shabbos with chesed. Alongside preparing the home and singing Shalom Aleichem, some choose to give tzedakah before Shabbos as an added zechus. This can be a meaningful way to enter Shabbos with a heart turned toward both kedushah and kindness.

When you light candles and set your table and also give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, your home becomes a place where both davening and chesed live together. That is the kind of home the malach blesses. After singing Shalom Aleichem, you may say quietly: Elokah d’Meir aneni!

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

The Gemara in Avodah Zarah 18a tells of Rabbi Meir’s effort to rescue his sister-in-law from Roman captivity. In the story, Rabbi Meir tells the guard that if he is ever in danger he should say, “Eloka d’Meir aneini,” and Rabbi Meir demonstrates those words by being saved from attacking dogs. Later, the guard uses that phrase and is saved. If you want to mention this story here, it is better to describe it that way, rather than write simply that Rabbi Meir cried out and she was rescued.

On Friday night, that is what we daven for too. We ask Hashem to take the heaviness of the week and replace it with the warmth and wholeness of Shabbos. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir is not davening to Rabbi Meir. It is asking Hashem to hear our tefillah in the merit of this great tzaddik and our own act of chesed joined together.

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799. The talmidei chachamim in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. The charity supports Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. When you give before Shabbos and sing the shalom aleichem prayer that night, your tzedakah and your song rise together.

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

A Blessing for Your Shabbos Table

May Hashem send His malachim to your door every Friday night. May they find your candles lit and your home filled with warmth. May the shalom of Shabbos rest on every person at your table, on the ones sitting beside you and on the ones you are thinking of tonight. And may the week ahead be lighter because of the peace that entered your home on this leil Shabbos.

You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost. They will daven for your family by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness