Samaritan Sukkot - From Har Greizim to Cholon

Over Chol Ha'moed one of our family trips was to Har Greizim in the Shomron Hills -- to see the "sukkot" of the Shomronim/Samaritans. We learned that their sukkot are different that ours because of persecution by Arabs, and they had to differentiate themselves by "proving" they weren't Jews. Here are some pictures of our trip... (explanations on Samaritans at the links in the bottom of this post)

Note the "schach" above the hanging fruits/vegetables.

How interesting! While we went to visit the Shomronim on Har Greizim, unbeknowest to us, relatives went to visit the Shomronim in Holon (a Coastal-Israel city which is home to the sister community of the Har Greizim Shomronim) Some of their sukkot are indoors, while some are outdoors...(I guess they reverted back to their original tradition, since Arab persecution isn't an issue)

Home of the Samaritan High Priest/Cohen Gadol.


Previous posts (and pictures) of Muqata visits to the Shomronim...here, here, here and here.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Deciphering Samaritan

On Thursday of hol haMoed Pesah, my family and I joined Jameel for a trip to the Samaritan community on Har Greizim, where we were given a fascinating tour of the Samaritan museum, and got a glimpse of a Samaritan synagogue. You can see some of the videos and photos that Jameel shot here and here.

My kids were curious about what was written on the various signs and inscriptions in the synagogue. I figured that if I took the time to sit and decipher them, I might find some interesting things. I wasn’t disappointed. It occurred to me that others might be interested too, so I’m sharing them here.

To interpret the text, I used this document ( a proposal for inclusion of the Samaritan alphabet in Unicode, accepted a few weeks ago), written by Michael Everson and Mark Shoulson. (Mark Shoulson, by the way, is an expert in Samaritan and Klingon – he is Assistant Director of the Klingon Language Institute, and once translated sefer Yonah into Klingon.)

First, let's take a look at the inscriptions above the doorway of the synagogue. (Click on the picture to see a higher resolution image.) These are verses from the Torah, placed above the doorway in accordance with the Samaritans' literal interpretation of the commandment "וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ" ("And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates") [Devarim 6:9 and Devarim 11:20]. The “mezuza” above the outer entrance contains two psukim, the top one in larger letters, and the lower one in smaller. The two verses are Shemot 25:8, and Shemot 20:20, both of which turn out to be good illustrations of the differences between the Samaritan text of the Torah, and our own Masoretic Text. For both verses, I show the Samaritan version as it appears on the synagogue’s “mezuza” above labeled as ש, and the Masoretic version below labeled as מ. The differences in the Samaritan text are highlighted:

• “Mezuza” engraving above outer entrance, top:

ש  ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוככם
מ  ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכ ם
[שמות כ"ה:ח']

• “Mezuza” engraving above outer entrance, bottom:

ש  ובמקום    אשר אזכרתי את שמי, שם אבוא אליך וברכתיך
מ  בכל המקום אשר אזכיר  את שמי,    אבוא אליך וברכתיך
[שמות כ':כ']

My 13-year-old daughter astutely pointed out that the difference in 20:20 is probably a subtle reflection of the Samaritans’ belief in the centrality of Har Greizim.

• Stylized golden flame design beside outer entrance:

שמע ישראל

I found this particularly interesting. This is exactly the same sort of text-as-artwork design one often finds in modern Jewish synagogues – with the twist that this uses Samaritan paleo-Hebrew script instead of modern Hebrew. (Image at right added by Jameel.)

• Golden menora plaque [“mezuza”?] above inner entrance:

מנורת אור
[?]

Now let's see what's on the synagogue's bulletin board. (Click for a higher resolution image.)

• Bulletin board, top right [chart]:

פסח
[?]
חושך
ארבה
מצות

These seem to be decorative, Pesah-related words superimposed over the chart, which I suspect is a schedule for the korban Pesah.

Samaritan samekh
(singaat)

Also, get a load of the Samaritan letter samekh (or singaat, as they call it) in the word "פסח" ("Pesah"). It looks like a hieroglyphic bird, or one of the letters in Dr. Seuss’ On Beyond Zebra. (See here, particularly the letter glikk [U+E635] J )

• Bulletin board, bottom right:

[סמל מדינת ישראל]
…
חג שמח וכשר ]באותיות אשוריות]
…

This appears to be an official letter of holiday greetings from an Israeli government ministry. At the top is the official emblem of the State of Israel, and in the text of the letter, most of which seems to be in Samaritan script, you can see the words “Hag sameah v’kasher” (“A joyous and kosher holiday”) in modern Hebrew letters.

• Bulletin board, top middle:

שנת
3646 = ישראלי
5767 יהודהי
1428 ישמעאלי
2007 נוצרי

This lists the numbers of the current year (or last year, actually) on the Samaritan, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian calendars, respectively. The Samaritan year is shown here as 3646. They date their calendar from the entrance of the Israelites into the Land of Israel at the time of Yehoshua; as opposed to the Jewish calendar, which is dated from the creation of the world. Note that the Samaritan year is labelled as "ישראלי" ("Israelite"), and the Jewish year is labelled as "יהודהי" ("Judahite").

This one is a little weird. Firstly, why do they need a sign to remind people what year it is? Secondly, if they actually do need this, well, then they probably should update it to the current year already…

• Bulletin board, bottom middle:

ש  את החג המצות תשמר, שבעת ימים תאכל מצות כאשר צויתיך
מ  את  חג המצות תשמר, שבעת ימים תאכל מצות  אשר צוית ך
[שמות ל"ד:י"ח]

Note, once again, the variations in the text (Shemot 34:18).

• Bulletin board, top left [beside red circle]:

הערב

I imagine this had been put up once about an event some evening, which had appeared below it. I have no idea what the big red ball with lines is supposed to be.

• Bulletin board, bottom left:

ערב שבת החג המצות:
6:22

This one seems to be zman knissat Shabbat for the previous Shabbat. We would call it zman hadlakat neirot, except that the Samaritans don’t light Shabbat candles, of course. But why do they call it Shabbat Hag HaMatzot? Shabbat was Pesah (using their nomenclature); Hag HaMatzot didn’t start until motzaei Shabbat. Hmm…

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Thoughts on the Shomronim

Last Thursday I drove to Har Greizim -- the Shomron mountaintop community of the Samaritans, and had a fascinating talk with Yefet Cohen (pictured on the left), the curator of the Samaritan museum (and son of the previous Samaritan Kohen Gadol/High Priest).

While taking a video clip of him reading the "Shma", he curiously pointed to his arm and head during the verses that allude to "tefillin".

Afterwards, I asked him about their tradition of tefillin, and he replied that the Samaritan tradition of tefillin was lost over the years. I can understand. When a community of over a million has been reduced to only 700, certain skills are bound to be lost. I don't know how to manufacture tefillin (in fact, I'd be willing to wager that there are hardly any people in the blogosphere that are qualified to make kosher tefillin). How long did the Jews lose the tradition of tekhelet? (the blue fringe in tzitzit)

Then I asked about tzitzit -- do they still have the tradition for how to tie them? Jews have many different ways to tie tzitziyot, especially when you include the permutations for adding in tekhelet. Again, Yefet shook his head sadly that they also lost that tradition.

"But over there in the corner of your museum, you have a mannequin of a person wearing a tallit, and I assume you use them in prayer -- where do you get those from," I asked.

He laughed -- "Oh, we got those from you, the Jews." While the tallit and tzitziyot are now worn by the Shomronim -- and are purchased from Jews, the Shomronim have not adopted tefillin in their daily religious prayers.

"And you will make for me a Temple, and I will dwell in your midst -- translation from over the doorway entrance to the Samaritan synagogue"

Pictures inside the Samaritan synagogue, during their afternoon prayers (close to sunset). Its customary to remove your shoes before going in (which we did)



Here's their message board at the entrance: Note the "חג שמח וכשר" (A Happy and Kosher Holiday) message from the State of Israel at the bottom right...and the 6:22 time reminder at the left. Anyone gander a guess what it's the time for?


Other interesting things that I'll post about later:

1. The Samaritans reference "613 mitzvot"
2. The Samaritan mentality of being among the "gentiles"
3. The stolen Samaritan "Torah"s -- currently being held in Lebanon for a ransom of 12 million dollars.
4. The Samaritan Torah they claim written by Avisha (son of Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Kohen Gadol) about 3400 years ago.
5. Between a rock and a hard place; Israeli Holon and Palestinian Authority Har Greizim

Note commandment #10 of the Samaritans:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.

3. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

10. You shall keep the mount Gerizim holy.

Some of the differences between Samaritans and Jews:

• Small in number (under 700)
• One level of religious belief -- no divergent streams (i.e., no Reform, Conservative, etc.)
• Only live in the land of Israel
• Patrilineal lineage
• Mount Gerizim is the center of worship -- prayers made facing Mount Gerizim
• Authority of Torah is the Levite Priests (no rabbis)
• Complete list of High Priesthood lineage going back to Pinhas
• Torah not supplemented past 5 books of Moses
• Messiah, called Taheb, from sons of Joseph or Levi
• Passover Sacrifice
• No celebration of Purim or Hanukkah
• Counting of Omer starts day after the Sabbath after Passover
• Do not light candles on the Sabbath
• Samaritans do not have sex on the Sabbath
• Men do not wear head cover all the time
• No required number for prayer (minyan)

More Source info here.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Chol HaMoed at Har Greizim

Too late (at night) to post pictures, story, and everything.

Till I get my act together, here's a video I took today of Samaritan Yefet HaCohen reciting the "Shma" in the Samaritan dilaect of Hebrew.



Lots more to follow!


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

The Shomronim. A Brief Glimpse on Har Greizim

A Shomronim "mezuza" -- a pasuk from the Torah hung on the wall inside the house. Guess I shouldn't call it the "Torah" because its not really the same as Judaism's. Well maybe the same, but they are a different religion.

Living on Har Greizim, overlooking Shechem lives a small community of the Shomronim/Samaritans. Since this topic came up on a different blog, I decided to write a quick summary of my trip their last sukkot. They don't live that far from the Muqata -- and it was easy getting there. Well, easy if you carry an M16, and have rock-proof windows, but I don't consider that a big deal.

The Shomronim are the descendants of the Kuttim, whe were brought to Eretz Yisrael from Kutta, as part of an Assyrian policy of trans-migration, after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes), 150 years before the first Beit Hamikdash was destroyed (Melachim II 17:24). The Shomronim originally converted to Judaism because of fear of lions that attacked them, but were eventually rejected by the Jewish people and deemed to be non-Jewish (see Chulin 6a; Even Ha’ezer). Update; The Shomronim disagree with the above and claim to be descendants of the tribes of Efrayim, Menashe and Levi

There are 2 communities of Shomronim living today in Israel; one community in Holon (near Tel-Aviv), and one on Har Greizim, overlooking Shechem. Next door is the Jewish town of Har Bracha, and there isn;t that much interaction between the 2 communities. One's Jewish, one's Samaritan -- yet its eerie that there can be so many familiarities between them, yet they are still different religions. The Shomronim community in Holon wishes it could integrate more with Israeli society, and say they are part of "Adat Yisrael" -- but they aren't Jewish, and it just causes problems of intermarriage (as if we don't have enough problems in Israel as is).

A good site from a Jewish perspective on the Shomronim is here: http://www.campsci.com/iguide/har_gerizim_and_har_ayval.htm

See their point of view here: http://www.jewishmag.co.il/78mag/samaritans/samaritans.htm

In addition to Har Greizim, there used to be small communities around Israel, with a few in the present day Ramla area. http://www.ramla.muni.il/E_ramla/history/shomronim.html

Anyway - enough background. We went to Har Greizim and saw the remains of the ancient community. A Shomroni named "Taher" showed us around (his name comes from 'vTaher Libeinu l'Ovdicha bemet" -- וטהר ליבנו לעבדך באמת

Har Greizim actually has 2 communities on it [not including the Jews living in the town of Har Bracha, a seperate part of the hill] -- the Palestinian (Area A!) and the Samaritan community (Area C). Here's a view of the Palestinian side from the Samaritan side. The large building is just a big house.


Taher took us into his home and showed us the "mezuzot" on his wall. (I'm pointing - a rare glimse of Jameel)



He showed us his "sukka". A Samaritan "sukka" is indoors, and consists of a latticework with fruit hanging off it. The fruit is arranged in square/rectangular geometric patters -- usually with etrogim int he middle. It smells amazing.



Anyway - thats enough on the Shomronim for today. Back to regular Muqata reporting in our next post.