Samaritan and Christian Minorities in the West Bank

Snow on a Palm

Today we woke to a snowstorm, which is a strange event indeed. It is so rare that there are no public works snowplows or sand spreaders. Most people drive very small economy cars (the better to get around narrow Jerusalem streets), which don't handle snowy conditions very well. Fortunately for us, our plan was to get out of Jerusalem (which is a downhill journey) and head for Nablus, a Palestinian city in the Northern part of the Western Bank, located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

Ibrahim Senior

Our first stop was to visit the main Samaritan synagogue, where we met with the head priest Ibrahim and his son (also a priest, also named Ibrahim). The Samaritan number about 745, with most living in community at the top of Mt Gerazim, and the rest living in Holon, a town in Southern Israel. They trace their heritage back to Aaron. Samaritans claim their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained, as opposed to Judaism, which they believe is a related but altered and amended religion brought back by those returning from exile.

Ibrahim Senior showed us the community Torah (they consider the Pentateuch as their only sacred scripture), which was covered in a ceremonial cloth and rolled up in a gold scroll case. The Samaritan language is over 3,600 years old. He walked with us outside to show us where the community gathers once a year to offer God a sacrifice of a lamb (which they roast and later consume). Interfaith marriage, as it is in both the Jewish and Muslim communities, is forbidden. Unfortunately for the Samaritans, this means that there are many health problems related to genetics, and many children are born with birth defects.

Jacob's Well

We read John 4 to remind ourselves about Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman on the way to Jacob's Well. Father Kamal pointed out to us the symbolism of the woman's five husbands and suggested that they are a symbol for the five local gods of the area, and that the woman was a symbol for the region of Samaria. The Well itself is located in the basement of a Greek Orthodox church called St. Photina (from the traditional Greek name for the woman). I was thrilled to be the person in our group selected to draw a bucket of water from this sacred place. It was disturbing to hear that a few years ago the resident Father of the church was gunned down by a Zionist who believed that the well belonged to the Jewish people and was upset that it is located at the West Bank.

Standard Room

Our next stop was to visit St. Luke's Hospital, which is run by the Anglican Archdiocese of Jerusalem. It's mission is to provide quality health care to the Palestinian people, irregardless of age, race, religion or ability to pay. We met with Father Ibrahim Nairouz, who shepherds the two Episcopal churches in the area and is Vice President of the hospital. He related to us some of the difficulties of being a Christian (1% of the population) in the West Bank.

Fortunately, Christian relations with Muslims here in Palestine are good. He said that they do not focus on doctrinal differences, but they do work on building relationships and what they share in common. One of the frustrations of the health care system is that not every hospital is equipped to handle every case. Since there is no freedom of movement for the Palestinians, it could take up to 5-6 hours to get a permit for an ambulance to pass through the checkpoint to get to a hospital. More people have died (and babies born) at checkpoints than is recorded in the news.