What is a Samaritan?

Many people hear the word Samaritan and immediately think of someone who stops to help a stranger in need as in a “good Samaritan”. But did you know that the Samaritans are actually an ancient people who have been living in Israel for about 2,800 years?

It all started when the King of Assyria exiled the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He replaced them with a people called Cutim. These people ultimately converted to the Torah Religion and over the centuries began to see themselves as descendants of the 10 tribes.

When the Jews returned from 70 years of Babylonian exile these Cutim, now called Shomronim or Samartians since they lived in the Shomron or Samaria asked to build the Second Temple together with the Jews. Zerubbabel refused this request and from that time on the Samaritans and the Jews became the bitterest of enemies for a period of almost 1,000 years.

After the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, the Jews were mostly exiled from the Land of Israel, preserving our religion and heritage in exile around the world. But the Samaritans never actually left the Holy Land.

For 2,000 years they refused to leave as they were persecuted by the Romans, Christians and Muslims. The Samaritan community dwindled to just 146 individuals by the time of WWI and almost went extinct.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, they have been protected and their numbers have grown to over 800 individuals.

They continue to live on Mt. Gerizim and in Holon keeping their own version of the Torah Laws. One of the most interesting aspects of their religion is that they continue to offer the Passover sacrifice on Mt. Gerizim which they consider to be the Holy Mountain chosen by God rather than Mt. Moriah which the Jews believe in. Since they have their own calendar their Passover doesn’t always fall out on the same day as the Jewish Passover. This year Samaritan Passover falls out on April 29th.

Over the years I have taken hundreds of tourists to visit the Samaritan community on Mt. Gerizim as part of my tours to the Shomron to learn about this piece of Biblical history. I have also observed their Passover Sacrifice twice.

As a Jew, I don’t agree with most of their religious views or their narrative of history. Yet their history and ours have been interwoven for thousands of years. There is much we can learn about the stories in the Tanach and about our history by learning about the Samaritans.

On April 29th I will be leading a tour to the Samaritan Passover. This will be my 3rd time attending and 2nd time leading a tour to this event. If you will be in Israel then, I invite you to join me and learn about this fascinating piece of Israel’s past and present.