The Good Samaritan: what was his religion and does it still exist?
Fanny Urien-Lefranc
Research Summary
Everybody knows the Good Samaritan parable, but who were, and are, the Samaritans? This research tells you about the history of the group – an ancient minority whose religion is close to Judaism, but from which they differentiate themselves – as well as their culture, its relationship to tourism, and how Samaritanism has been internationalised, e.g. to Brazil. Samaritans are a good case of ‘religious transnationalisation’, of more interest than the tiny size of the group suggests.
Researcher
Fanny Urien-Lefranc
Research Institution
Institut interdisciplinaire d’anthropologie du contemporain, Paris (original article in English)
What is this about?
- Who were and are the Samaritans, of ‘Good Samaritan parable’ fame?
- What do we know about their history, religion and culture?
- How do they understand themselves today, and how does this link to tourism?
- Why are the Samaritans generating new members in Brazil – and what is ‘religious transnationalisation’?
What was done?
The research was done through a broad, mixed methods approach. Field visits were made and surveys and interviews carried out over the internet. The article also shows evidence of very detailed engagement with relevant published literature.
Main findings and outputs
- The Samaritans of today are a community of about 810 people split between Mount Gerizim, their holy place near Nablus (West Bank) and Holon (Israel).
- According to them, their name comes not from the province of Samaria from which they originate, but from the Hebrew word Shômrîm, which means “the keepers” and, by extension, “the keepers of the Law.”
- There is dispute over their origins, but Samaritans are now considered Jews by the Israeli state.
- Kyriat Luza, their village on Mount Gerizim, attracts more and more tourists each year, particularly on the Samaritan Passover, during which about fifty sheep are sacrificed. The ceremony brings together Palestinians, Israelis, and many foreign tourists curious to attend a ritual supposedly representing a centuries-old heritage.
- ‘Cultural entrepreneurs’ make full use of this: there is a market in ‘authentic’ Samaritan foods, amulets, texts, music, etc.
- There are now about 300 Brazilian ‘entrants’ into Samaritanism (there is no concept or method of conversion). The movement began in 2015. Many have Jewish links and seek an authentic, pure, ancient form of Judaism. Religiously, Samaritanism accepts the Pentateuch and rejects later tradition. Migration is not a part of this spreading of Samaritanism out of its historical / geographical roots: it tends to be fuelled by the internet, e.g. a way of identification is to post a Facebook photo of yourself holding a laminated amulet containing a verse in Samaritan Hebrew.
- Are these new modes of religiosity and new relationships between ethnicity and religion? More research is needed.
Relevance to RE
The research offers a welcome addition to ‘standard practice’. Teachers could use it to supplement teaching about the Good Samaritan parable by introducing contextual material on the Samaritans, including their place in the 21st century. Pupils could be helped to consider challenging questions such as the relationship between religion and tourism, and challenging concepts such as transnationalisation.
Generalisability and potential limitations
This is probably as detailed a study of contemporary Samaritanism as a teacher would use, though for those with special interests in the area, the article has a very full bibliography.
Find out more
The original article is Fanny Urien-Lefranc, From Religious to Cultural and Back Again: Tourism Development, Heritage Revitalization and Religious Transnationalizations among the Samaritans: Religions 2020, 11, 86
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11020086