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I recently watched a video claiming that Shlomo Molcho hy”d was the author of the piyut Shalom Aleichem. Does anyone have any sources for this, or does anyone know of anyone else to whom it is attributed?

(The source of Shalom Aleichem has already been discussed here, but I haven’t seen this particular legend addressed.)

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    Perhaps include a link to the video, or a brief description of who was making this claim? This could significantly help researching the claim
    – chortkov2
    Commented Oct 21 at 9:10
  • facebook.com/Diggstory/photos/… According to that Facebook post, this tradition has no known source. It sounds like an urban legend.
    – Harel13
    Commented Dec 9 at 7:13
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    The closest I've found is that a fairly old book on Rabbi Molcho imagined a scene where he would come home on Shabbat and say Shalom Aleichem. It's possible that that's the source of the legend.
    – Harel13
    Commented Dec 9 at 7:13
  • @Harel13 Can you provide some more details?
    – Yø-c Ro
    Commented Dec 9 at 14:21
  • In Aharon Kaback's Shlomo Molcho, vol. 2 (apparently a novelization of his life), he imagines a scene where Rabbi Molcho attends a Kabbalat Shabbat service with the great sages of Eretz Yisrael of his time. Part of this scene includes everyone going home to say Shalom Aleichem, but he notes that Rabbi Molcho didn't have angels to come home with him. See here.
    – Harel13
    Commented Dec 10 at 13:17

1 Answer 1

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The Book: "Sefer: Minhag Tov" which seems to have been written in the year (about) 1273-1275;(maybe as late as 1300?), has a list of Jewish customs. One of them (#36), states:

"And it is a good custom on Friday nights, when we come (home) from the Synagogue, to go right away next to the candles lit for the honor of the Sabbath, which we made the blessing upon, and stand next to both of them and say: "Oh angels of mercy and peace, May your coming be for peace, May your coming be for peace, Upon you should be peace, For all of you there should be peace..." And so too have I found written that Rabbi Aharon of Regensburg acustomed himself to do so."

"Sefaria.org" writes the following information about this Book, showing the author is assumed to be an Italian Rabbi of the middle ages:

"Sefer Minhag Tov, an anonymous treatise composed circa 1275, whose author may have studied with northern French Tosafists but who certainly did study with R. Moses ben Meir of Ferrera and perhaps settled in Bari or Taranto..." From Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts, Volume 6 pg. 144 (Courtesy of R. Joel Zeff)."

It therefore seems that the original words of at least a proto-Shalom Aleychem liturgy was already in use as early as the mid thirteenth or even twelfth century and probably has roots beforehand as well.

Therefore it would seem to be an error to attribute the creation of the liturgy to Solomon Molcho, or any Jewish figure who lived and was active in the early 1500's.

Here is the link to Sefer Minhag Tov:

https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=8903&st=&pgnum=12&hilite=

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    @Harel13 The OP is answered because SM was after this time.
    – kouty
    Commented Oct 21 at 13:04
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    @Harel13 the OP is also asking (perhaps after editing) if there was anyone else but Shlomo Molcho to whom it is attributed?
    – Y DJ
    Commented Oct 21 at 13:55
  • Notably, this ancient (original?) "Minhag Tov" version omits the controversial petition to the angels "ברכוני לשלום bless me"
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Dec 12 at 1:36

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