|
|
|||
|
Passover
Samaritans celebrate Passover on Mt. Grizim, while those residing in Hulon will stay in their accommodations on Mt. Grizim for the seven days of the holiday. It is important in that respect to mention that every Samaritan family residing in Hulon also owns its own house on Mt. Grizim, where they stay during the seven days of Passover. Passover is considered in the Samaritan tradition to be the first Israelite holiday, as the month of Nisan is considered to be the first Month. On that holiday, Israelites are commanded by the book of Moses to offer sacrifices to the lord. Thus, every Samaritan household acquires an innocent year old lamb for the Passover Sacrifice.
The Passover sacrifice-is the parallel of the Jewish Seder Night. Instead of a Seder table with a Hagadah (recount of the exodus from Egypt), a bottle of wine and gefilte fish, at twilight, dressed in white, the Samaritans gather around the altar and listen to the high priest's Passover blessing. Given the latter's signal, the nominated people simultaneously sacrifice the animals. Around 50 lambs are sacrificed in one minute. Every Samaritan then puts a drop of blood on his forehead in identification with the Israelites drawing blood on their doorframes so that the angel of death would Pass Over their houses and spare the lives of their firstborns.
 Samaritans celebrate Passover on Mt. Grizim
Following the sacrifice and the cleaning of the lambs, they are put on big wooden spits while all the uneatable parts (skin and internal organs) are burned at the sacrificial fire. Following that, everybody waits around the giant oven heated some four to five hours in advance, and with the blessing of the high priest who is accompanying the ceremony with prayer and blessings, they put the spits inside the oven, covering them with an iron net, covering it in turn with a moist cloth, on top which they lay a log of wood in order to chock the fire inside the oven.
Finally, all that remains is to wait for approximately two hours for the meet to roast. At midnight, the spits are pulled out of the oven and hastily eaten, as commended by the Torah. Samaritans do not throw away whatever is not consumed. The Torah prohibits the waist or even the cracking of any of the sacrificial lamb's bones. Everything is burned at the altar while priests urge everybody to stay put till the complete consumption of the remains by the fire. (The entire relevant chapter can be found in the book of exodus, 12)
During the day of festivities as well as on the mid-holidays on the day following the sacrifice, Samaritans are in a Paschal sabbatical mode. They do not switch lights, drive cars, or talk on the phone, spending most of the day visiting relatives whom they haven’t met in some time in light of the distance between their two major residence centers (Hulon and Mt. Grizim). Of course, that day is also used for rest.
During the mid-holidays, the entire community is still on Mt. Grizim occupied with the craft of baking matzo bread. The Samaritans are prohibited from eating the Jewish square matzo, thus baking their matzo bread by themselves. The matzo itself is made of matzo flour which is very similar to the one used by the Bedouins who bake their pita bread on outdoor ovens. Following the tightening of the dough and its transformation into large and thin Taboon Bread, it is placed on the outdoor oven for about two minutes. Flip it over, and there you have got yourselves Samaritan matzo bread.
On the mid-holiday, Samaritans do not eat leavened of course, and the more strict members of the community would not even eat any thing which they had not prepared themselves. The principle products found on the Samaritan festive table are fruits, vegetables, meat and matzo.
On this holiday the Samaritans only drink natural homemade juices, water and of course their high quality Arrack which they make themselves from grapes.
The last day of Passover is also a sabbatical. At dawn the Samaritans ascend to the top of Mt. Grizim for the festivity prayer at their holiest place. According to the Samaritan tradition, this mountain is the place of the famous Binding of Isaac, Joshua's laying of the twelve stones, and of course the temple. The sharp-sighted would even be able to observe the entire city of Nablus, Joseph's burial site and of course, a mesmerizing sunrise.
The Samaritans women makes "Maza"
|
Site News |
||
|
Copyright © Samaritans.com. All rights reserved. |
|||
