Some Practices About Religious Life in Modern Samaritans

The Samaritans, living in the foothills of Mount Gerizim near Nablus in the Palestinian Territory and in the Holon city of Israel, are one of the smallest ethnic-based religious groups living today with a population of about eight hundred. The Samaritans claim to be based ethnically on the Children of Israel and religiously on the Torah, although they are not accepted by Orthodox Judaism. They are different from Orthodox Judaism in their practices about religious life in spite of some similarities. They claim that they are the true believers and practitioners of the faith of God that given to the Children of Israel with Torah. In this study, the practices of the present Samaritans in the rituals such as circumcision, completion of the reading of the Torah, marriage, funeral ceremonies, Sabbath, Passover and sacrifice were discussed. The elements that the Samaritans continued and changed in these practices were examined according to time and conditions by comparing them with Orthodox Judaism practices