Enterprises

ISRAELITE SAMARITAN ENTERPRISES SINCE THE 1950s

21 May 2013

Professor Gerhard Wedel of Berlin asks, Benyamim Tsedaka replies:

1. Do Samaritans have, and do they prefer independent entrepreneurship or enterprise?

We have engaged in entrepreneurial activity in order to survive. Naturally, we prefer independent enterprises, for example:

Enterprises In the 1950s

• significantly for us, establishing the second Israelite Samaritan population centre in Holon

Enterprises In the 1960s

• building the first Samaritan synagogue in the State of Israel
• establishing the first Samaritan Newspaper, the bi-weekly magazine A.B The Samaritan News
• establishing youth clubs in Holon, and also in Nablus
• publishing the First Comparative Torah, showing the Jewish (Masoretic) and Samaritan Versions  in Hebrew

Enterprises in the 1970s

• setting up official local councils in Holon and Nablus (later moved to Mount Gerizim) by democratic elections

Enterprises In the 1980s

• establishing the Kiriat Luza neighbourhood on Mount Gerizim Visit Kiriat Luza
• then building a large synagogue in Kiriat Luza for the entire community
• establishing the A.B Institute of Samaritan Studies in Holon
• building two Community Centres, one in Holon and another in Kiriat Luza
• establishing basketball teams in Kiriat Luza and also in Holon – the teams play in the Palestinian and Israeli Basketball Associations
• founding the First Ancient Israelite Samaritan Music Choir see MUSIC. Since its establishment the Choir has performed in the USA, Europe, Israel and South East Asia.

Enterprises In the 1990s

• sending a delegation to Saint Petersburg in 1991 to catalogue the 1348 Samaritan Manuscripts of the Firkovitz Collection
• sending a delegation of Samaritan leaders to the Ministry of State in Washington DC, and also to the White House and the Senate to ensure the political future of the Israelite Samaritans 
• similarly, establishing contacts with the British Government and Parliament

Enterprises In the 2000s 

• founding the Mount Gerizim International Peace Centre
• establishing the Samaritan Medal Foundation
• later, building a small private Museum on Mount Gerizim
• then establishing a second synagogue in Holon

Enterprises In the 2010s

• establishing a Visitor Centre in Kiriat Luza, Mount Gerizim and also helping to establish a National Park on the summit of Mount Gerizim
• developing the Passover sacrifice yard on Mount Gerizim
• publishing the First English Translation of the Israelite Samaritan Torah in parallel with the accepted English Translation of the Jewish (Masoretic) Version

2. What about sports? Because I only know of the Samaritan basketball players.

There are the two basketball teams, and internal summer tournaments of Miniball and Basketball on the sports grounds in both neighbourhoods, and a gym in Kiriat Luza.

Benyamim Tsedaka

Samaritan HISTORY

Choir and MUSIC

Samaritan RELIGION

Samaritan FESTIVALS

Top of Page

Photography: Ori Orhof