Intro:
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Friday, December 18, 2020
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Theft of the Holy Scroll
One of the most interesting and disturbing things I have discovered during my research on the Samaritans has been the story of the theft of their holy scroll. This post will be covering the Samaritans' scrolls, their theft and attempted recovery as well as the unwillingness of the Palestinian government to aid the Samaritans in recovering their lost treaures.
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/29/602836507/who-stole-the-torahs
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/29/602836507/who-stole-the-torahs
Samaritans, Jews, Christians and the True Name
Despite all three (major) Abrahamic religions being united in their worship of a single deity, the names which are used to worship said G-d vary significantly between the three.
For example, Muslims famously will call G-d “Allah” (Simply G-d in Arabic) or “Rahman” (Meaning merciful). Christans have various names for G-d depending on their own language. Because of this, we will simply use Latin’s “Deus” (Meaning G-d) as it is the closest to a formal Christan name for G-d. Among Jews and Samaritans, it is more complicated. There are many holy names that are used such as “Eil”, a cognate to “Allah” meaning simply (G-d). “Elohim” the ancient plural form of “Eil”, although it should be noted that this is still in reference to a single deity- this is likely a result of a monotheistic Israelite upper-class ruling over other Canaanites who may have been more lukewarm in their acceptance of the “G-d of Abraham”.
The holiest name which the Jews use in reference to G-d, however, is “Adonai”. This name, however, is rarely spelled as is written, but is almost always spelled “YHVH”. This is because “Adonai” is a stand-in name for something much older, and much more holy. The Tetragrammaton, the original Abrahamic name for G-d and, depending on what stream of Abrahamic religion you follow, if any at all, the true name of G-d.
Thousands of years ago the Jews stopped pronouncing this name. It appears that as time progressed, the Israelites used the name with increasing caution out of fear of its alleged power. As such, there is some evidence that even the Israelites enemies did not know the name at a point. One sign of this is the mocking of the Israelites in the book of Samson where they say that they worship a “G-d with no name”. It appears that as time progressed only the Cohanim or Priests of Israel were allowed to know the sacred name. When the Jews were forced into exile by the Babylonians, the name was forgotten.
Many Jews and Christians throughout the years have tried to rediscover “The Name.” Notably, this has been of Kabbalists and other Jewish mystics. There is an old Jewish folk tale which I can neither corroborate nor testify as to its origin. The story goes that three Rabbis finally discover “The name” and decide to say it. One dies on the spot, one becomes an insane raging Nihilist, and one is given great wisdom and power. What is the lesson of this story? Be careful. “The Name” is very powerful.
Christan and Western intellectuals have sought out after “The Name” in a scientific manner lacking the cultural sensitivity or carefulness of their Kabbalistic counterparts. Like westerners do, they gave it a fancy name the “Tetragrammaton” which is a complicated Greek way of saying “four-letter word”.
How does this all tie into the Samaritans?
Much research has been done over whether or not the Samaritans still know the holy name. In an uncharacteristically passionate and dubiously edited article, our favorite Samaritan intellectual, Benyamin Tsedaka attempts to answer this same question.
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