Friday’s profound journey




Our journey from Tiberias back to Bethlehem, through the heart of the West Bank, was one of great profundity. We had an amazing encounter with the Samaritan community on Mt. Gerizim. There are only about 800 Samaritans left in the world; we met the high priest and his 24 year-old nephew, who helped translate for his uncle. The Samaritans are the remnants of two Northern tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph), along with Northern Levites. They are not Jews, who descend from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and southern Levites. The Samaritans have their own version of the Torah that differs significantly from the Jewish version. Each side claims to have the more original text. Next we visited the Well of Jacob in Nablus, traditional site of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4. Our archaeological site for the day was ancient Sebaste, which had something from every era, in reverse chronological order: ruins of a Byzantine Church, Herodian era Roman forum and amphitheater, and a circular Hellenistic tower. The most ancient part was at the top of the hill: ruins from the biblical city of Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel from about 900 BC until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 BC.  This is where the prophet Elijah, King Ahab, and the infamous Queen Jezebel battled it out over which god was stronger: Yahweh or Baal. Our last stop of the day was in Ramallah, administrative headquarters for the Palestinian Authority. We drove past the impressive white administrative building which also houses the tomb of Yasser Arafat. We had an incredibly insightful hour and a half with Father Jamal Khadar, a Palestinian Catholic priest who provided profound insights into the current political situation. This was a fitting end to a day where we saw numerous Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank, along with the special roads, walls, and infrastructure built to support them. 

Comments

  1. Mary Ann KadishJanuary 6, 2019 at 8:22 AM

    Your note that the "Samaritans have their own version of the Torah that differs significantly from the Jewish version" is interesting. I would like to hear more on the areas they are different. This is all so interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jtrumbower60January 6, 2019 at 12:27 PM

      The main difference has to do with the location of the Temple. The Jewish version of the Torah leaves it open, allowing later books (Samuel and Kings) to specify that God wants his Temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritan version collapses the first two commandments into one, allowing the 10th commandment to read “You shall build your Temple on Mt. Gerizim.” Both versions are attested among the Dead Sea Scrolls! Samaritans don’t accept any books outside the five Books of Moses, so they don’t care what the Book of Kings has to say.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A day focusing on Israel

Image
Yesterday, sadly, we had to say good-bye to our outstanding guide Ibrahim Salameh, “Bethlehem’s Guiding Star” as it says on his business card. For the next two days we have the services of his brother Hassam. Today the focus was on learning more about the Jewish experience. After a quick visit to En Karem, the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist, the group visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in West Jerusalem. The words in Hebrew mean “A monument and a name.” Photography was not allowed inside, but we were able to capture some of the architecture and outdoor sculpture. Needless to say, this was an unforgettable experience that will last a lifetime, and many students report learning things they never knew before about the Holocaust. After this, the group headed toward the Israel Museum with its 1/50 scale model of Jerusalem in the first century. The museum is also famous for its “Shrine of the Book” dedicated to preserving the original Dead Sea Scrolls. I was in my glory e
Read more

Final day for reflection and study

Image
Our last day in the Holy Land has been characterized by reflection and study of the contemporary political situation in this country. We met with two unique individuals, each with a perspective hard-won through personal experience. We spent two hours with Father David Neuhaus, S.J. at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in West Jerusalem. His multi-faceted identity along with profound learning and erudition equip him to be an excellent guide for understanding anti-semitism, Zionism, Islamophobia, and all the other ideologies that beset this land (and ours). Father Neuhaus comes from a German Jewish family; his relatives were decorated German soldiers in WWI, only to later perish in the Holocaust. He himself was born and raised in South Africa during the Apartheit regime. In his twenties he became a Catholic Christian and ultimately a Jesuit. He lives in Israel and teaches mostly Palestinian students in Bethlehem. All of us were spellbound by his lecture and the ensuing conversation with
Read more