What is the Modern Jewish opinion about Samaritans?

[Phil25]

What is the opinion of Jews or Israelis about Samaritans? Are Samaritans seen as Palestinians, Jews or a distinct group in itself? Where does Samaritans' political allegiance lie, Palestine or Israel?

 

[xkatz]

Samaritans are seen as distinct from Jews, but their religion is essentially a sister religion to Judaism.

 

[Levite]

Samaritans are seen as distinct from Jews, but their religion is essentially a sister religion to Judaism.

Well said.

I actually met a Samaritan guy when I lived in Jerusalem. Nice dude, very interesting practices. Always wanted to go to Mount Gerizim and see them offer the Passover sacrifice, but I never got the chance.

Since Samaritanism is really a sister religion to Biblical Judaism, I'd more or less call it like an aunt to Rabbinic Judaism.

 

[Tumah]

I see that Samaritans are the English name for the Talmudic Cuthim. So I guess once it was revealed that they worship an image on a mountain, they aren't able to be counted for most Jewish things.
It also looks like they go by patrimlineal descent. I imagine that's going to be a problem.

 

[Levite]

I see that Samaritans are the English name for the Talmudic Cuthim. So I guess once it was revealed that they worship an image on a mountain, they aren't able to be counted for most Jewish things.
It also looks like they go by patrimlineal descent. I imagine that's going to be a problem.

They do not, to the best of my knowledge, worship any images. Nor, as far as I know, have they ever. They are pure monotheists, who believe in a completely aphysical God, just like us.

They have a version of the Torah, which is close-- but not identical-- to our Torah, and they study many of the books of Nach and hold them in reverence, but don't consider them Biblical canon in the way we do. They believe the sacred mountain of Hashem is Har Gerizim, not Har Habayit. And they don't hold by the Oral Torah, which in part accounts for why they are patrilineal instead of matrilineal. They have their own set of interpretive traditions, some of which are a little like midrash.

They are definitely not Jews. But they are definitely a sister religion to pre-Rabbinic Judaism, probably the closest non-Jewish religion to Judaism.

 

[Tumah]

They do not, to the best of my knowledge, worship any images. Nor, as far as I know, have they ever. They are pure monotheists, who believe in a completely aphysical God, just like us.

They have a version of the Torah, which is close-- but not identical-- to our Torah, and they study many of the books of Nach and hold them in reverence, but don't consider them Biblical canon in the way we do. They believe the sacred mountain of Hashem is Har Gerizim, not Har Habayit. And they don't hold by the Oral Torah, which in part accounts for why they are patrilineal instead of matrilineal. They have their own set of interpretive traditions, some of which are a little like midrash.

They are definitely not Jews. But they are definitely a sister religion to pre-Rabbinic Judaism, probably the closest non-Jewish religion to Judaism.

Wikipedia makes some mention of it

In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called Cutheans (Hebrew: כותים‎, Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq.[7] In the biblical account, however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria,[8] and they worshiped Nergal.[9][10] Modern genetics suggests some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the Talmud.[11]​

 

[Levite]

Wikipedia makes some mention of it

In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called Cutheans (Hebrew: כותים‎, Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq.[7] In the biblical account, however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria,[8] and they worshiped Nergal.[9][10] Modern genetics suggests some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the Talmud.[11]​

As far as I know, this is like their pre-history or ancient history. To say they worship images is like saying we are idol worshippers because our ancestors once worshipped idols.

 

[Tumah]

As far as I know, this is like their pre-history or ancient history. To say they worship images is like saying we are idol worshippers because our ancestors once worshipped idols.

Maybe not now, but in Talmudic times?

 

[Levite]

Maybe not now, but in Talmudic times?

To the best of my knowledge, and I certainly could be wrong, the Samaritans came to Israel from Babylonia in early Second Temple times, at which point they either no longer worshipped idols, or at which point they gave up worshipping idols.

 

[Tumah]

To the best of my knowledge, and I certainly could be wrong, the Samaritans came to Israel from Babylonia in early Second Temple times, at which point they either no longer worshipped idols, or at which point they gave up worshipping idols.

Chullin 6a says that at originally whatever Laws they were known to keep, they could be relied upon because they kept it better than the average Jew. But at some point a minority of them that were living on Mt. Gerizim (at the time it seems most of them were not living there), were found to be worshiping the image of a dove on the mountain. So now they can't be relied upon at all.

 

[Levite]

Chullin 6a says that at originally whatever Laws they were known to keep, they could be relied upon because they kept it better than the average Jew. But at some point a minority of them that were living on Mt. Gerizim (at the time it seems most of them were not living there), were found to be worshiping the image of a dove on the mountain. So now they can't be relied upon at all.

Anything is possible. Certainly many of our ancestors worshipped idols long after they knew better than to do so, long after it was officially deemed not acceptable to do so. Perhaps Chulin references a sect or disobedient group, or perhaps it reports incorrectly, or perhaps it is wholly correct in its report. The Samaritans themselves claim not to have been idol worshippers since their beginnings as a people.

Even if what is reported in Chulin is entirely correct-- and who can say if it is-- they seem not to have worshipped any image in millennia.

 

[Tumah]

Anything is possible. Certainly many of our ancestors worshipped idols long after they knew better than to do so, long after it was officially deemed not acceptable to do so. Perhaps Chulin references a sect or disobedient group, or perhaps it reports incorrectly, or perhaps it is wholly correct in its report. The Samaritans themselves claim not to have been idol worshippers since their beginnings as a people.

Even if what is reported in Chulin is entirely correct-- and who can say if it is-- they seem not to have worshipped any image in millennia.

Maybe.

 

[Akivah]

What is the opinion of Jews or Israelis about Samaritans? Are Samaritans seen as Palestinians, Jews or a distinct group in itself? Where does Samaritans' political allegiance lie, Palestine or Israel?

They preached assimilation with the Greeks, so they don't have a good rep. I actually thought that they were extinct. The Pharisees were the good guys, Judaism continued through them.

 

[metis]

Don't the Samaritans have a somewhat different "Oral Tradition" than we we call the "Oral Law"? I believe the Karaites use similar terminology to the former as well.