HISTORY & UNIQUENESS

Three Priests smoke Nargila Samaritan Priests are of the Tribe of Levi and the rest of the Israelite Samaritans are of the tribes of Joseph, Efraim and Menashe. The Priests are prominent among the people with their head red turbans, binding with white material during Shabat and Festivals and red during the weekdays.

The Samaritan Israelites are the remnant of an ancient people, descended from the ancient Kingdom of Israel, whose attempts to achieve peace among the people of Israel had rejected by the leaders of the descendents of Judah Kingdom, the Israelite Jews. In the fourth and fifth centuries CE, the Israelite Samaritans numbered about 1,200,000 persons dwelling in many cities and villages in the Land of Israel, from southern Syria to northern Egypt. Cruel religious decrees, forced conversions to Islam and Christianity, slaughter and persecution thinned the Samaritan Community to a bare 146 persons in 1917. In the 1930s, the Community reached a turning point and began to increase. Since then, it has been gradually developing in all areas of life; now, in addition to being the smallest and oldest people in the world, it is also the youngest community from the standpoint of its members' average age.

Nonetheless, throughout all history, the Samaritans never lost their unique status and image as a people. They have their own writing, the ancient Hebrew script; they speak their own language, the ancient Hebrew dialect spoken by Jews until the beginning of the first millennium CE; and they are brought up in accordance with a unique, millennia-old historical tradition, dating back to the return of the People of Israel, under Joshua son of Nun, to its homeland.

FOUR PRINCIPLES OF FAITH
The Samaritans are guided by four principles of faith:
[1] one God, who is the God of Israel;
[2] one prophet, Moses son of Amram;
[3] one holy book, the Pentateuch - the Torah handed down by Moses;
[4] one holy place, Mount Gerizim. To these is added the belief in the Taheb son of Joseph, prophet like Moses, who will appear on the Day of Vengeance and Recompense in the latter days.

Young Priest & Torah Scroll The Torah scroll is kept in a copper case plated with gold or silver. The Samaritan scroll cases are the most ancient artifacts of this kind in both communities Jewish and Samaritan. The Samaritan case divides into three parts differs from the Sephardic or Yemenite cases that divide into two parts, not to mentioned that the Sephardic is wooden made. The reading in Torah is different too. Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities read in the scroll in the case. The Samaritans use the scroll case only to wave with it before the prayers for blessing. The reading of the Torah is made from a Codexes [bounded Torah books]. The script is different. The Samaritan Torah is written in Ancient Hebrew Script.

HOLIDAYS
The Samaritans celebrate only those holidays mentioned in the Torah. These are seven in all: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks [Shavuot], the First Day of the Seventh Month, the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur], the Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot] and the Eighth Day of Assembly and Rejoicing of the Torah [Shemini Atzeret-Simhat Torah]. Unlike the Jews, their brethren within the People of Israel, the Samaritan Israelites do not celebrate Hanukah and Purim. Their New Year is celebrated fourteen days before Passover, and the eve of their Passover is marked by a sacrifice of lambs and he-goats on Mount Gerizim.

CALCULATION OF THE CALENDAR
The Jewish and Samaritan calculations of the calendar are very close systems. The differences between the two systems had created from the opening year of each calculation. The Jewish calculation starts from the first year of creation, but the Samaritan calculation starts from the first year of the entrance of the people of Israel with Joshua Bin-Nun to the Holy Land. Hence the leap years in both calendars are not parallel. Therefore, sometimes the Samaritan Festivals are taking place 30 days after the same Jewish ones. Generally, both festivals take place at the same days but very often the Samaritans celebrate one or two days before the Jews, because in certain years when the festival falls close to the Sabbath the Jews add one day to their Kislev month.

SAMARITAN CENTERS

Sunrise from Mt. Gerizim Sunrise from Mount Gerizim. The height of the peak of Gerizim Mountain, the Mountain of Blessing [Deut. ixxx.11] is one of the most beautiful views in the world. As a frequent flyer to many places over the world I am totally backing this statement.

A progressive indicator of Samaritan life is their concentration in two centers. Half the community lives in the Kiryat Luza neighborhood on Mt. Gerizi throughout the year, while only two families descend in the winter months to live in the very old neighborhood in Nablus. The other half of the community resides mostly in the Neveh Marqeh neighborhood in Holon, which was established in 1954-55. The community is grateful for the efforts of its late leader, Yefet ben Avraham Tsedaka Hatsafari of blessed memory, and the great assistance of the second President of the State of Israel, the late Yitzhaq ben Zvi, of blessed memory, as well as the mayors of Holon, the late Hayeem Kugel, and the late Pinhas Eilon of blessed memory, who allotted the land for the neighborhood and helped to obtain the requisite financial assistance.

Due to the peace process between the government of Israel and the Palestinians, the community has been split, in terms of the areas under their control, since the end of 1995. Public affairs, particularly the concern to improve the quality of life in both centers, are conducted by committees elected in Holon for predetermined periods and in Kiryat Luza in accordance with instructions of the High Priest. The blessed growth of the community in the last generation requires the expansion of the residential and living areas of the two centers and possibly, the planning of a third center. At Kiryat Luza, accelerated construction to expand the neighborhood is being implemented to respond to the needs of the younger generation.
 

CULTURE AND EDUCATION

Benyamim Tsedaka 2001 (Photographed by Paul Ross)

An active educational and cultural life abounds in the Samaritan community on a number of levels: there are cultural activities, summer day camps, exhibitions, community centers which operate primarily in the spring and summer, and offer courses and enrichment classes. There are also schools, which teach the Samaritan tradition, operating Sundays through Thursdays, in the afternoons.

In 1969, the brothers Benyamim and Yefet ben Ratson Tsedaka established A.B. - the Samaritan News, the first Samaritan newspaper, generally published on a bi-weekly basis in four languages, all appearing in the same edition: ancient Hebrew, modern Hebrew, Arabic and English. In 1981, the editors of A.B. established the A.B. Institute of Samaritan Studies, named after Yefet ben Avraham Tsedaka, the former head of the Samaritan community in Israel. The institute serves as a focal point for scholars and university students. They receive instruction and guidance at the institute for the research they conduct in Samaritan studies.

In the winter months, there is extensive activity in the community, which copies and prepares Torahs and prayer books for publication, some of which are published in limited editions.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE
Serious efforts have been made to encourage the younger generation to become involved in the internal affairs of the community. Holon operates one basketball team within the league of the Israel Basketball Association. Nablus reestablished a youth club in 1982, with about 100 members, who organize sports activities and a basketball team, hiking trips and courses in the fall and winter months for the study of their heritage.

DEVELOPED COMMUNITY
In 1948, the Samaritan Community numbered 250 persons: 192 in Nablus and 58 in Tel Aviv-Yafo. In 1969, it totaled 414 persons: 227 males and 187 females.

Statistics:

On January 1, 2003, the Community numbered 656 persons [310 in Kiryat Luza, Mount Gerizim; 346 in Neve Marqeh, Holon]: 347 males [169: 178] and 309 females [142: 167]. These included 286 married persons [122:164], 195 unmarried men [104: 91], 132 unmarried women [64 :68]; 8 widowed and divorced men[2:6]; 35 widowed and divorced women [17: 18]