FRIDAY IN SAMARIA. A diverse group of Gallileans trying to glimpse a view of Jewish settlement in Samaria. The idea was to enable discussion on a basis of shared experience as people rather than as faceless members of political camps and on the basis of having seen the Jewish settlement first hand. Notable and noted was the way in which the Oslo accords led to a situation which renders the Palestinians virtually “invisible” on such a tour. With the time constraints of erev Shabbat we barely got to scratch the surface of the discussion, for which reason and others I will not go into the contemporary aspects here. What I will share is the Jewish experience of encounter with a region so central to our heritage.
Shechem is where Joshua assembled the tribes of Israel to renew the Covenant (Josh. 24). Shechem is Abraham’s first stop: “When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem…” (Gen. 12:5-6). Shechem is Jacob’s first stop when he returns from Haran (Gen. 34:10). If you read a topographical map well you can see why. When you look out from Mt. Kabir you can feel it with great immediacy. “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal – Both are on the other side of the Jordan, beyond the West Road that is in the land of the Canaanites…” (Deut. 11:29-30). From Mt. Kabir you view the West Road leading up gently through the Tirtzah Channel to Shechem, nestled in the valley between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal (there is a theory that Mt. Kabir actually is the original Mt. Gerizim, but I tend to surmise that just as the Hebrew word for “forwards” is a synonym for “eastwards”, so “beyond the West Road” suggests “west of the West
Road”, which is where Mt. Gerizim is traditionally situated).
On Mt. Gerizim we met a Samaritan priest. They view themselves as the remnant of the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes dispersed by the Assyrians. Since, in their view, they were never in exile, they maintain a continuous tradition untainted by Babylonian influence. For example, they use the original Hebrew alphabet rather than the Assyrian alphabet recognized by most of us as “Hebrew”. Also, though they no longer bring regular offerings since their Temple on Mt Gerizim was destroyed, they do perform the Paschal offering every year.
