Judaism: Similarities And Differences

How can we understand ancient history if we do not look at cultures that have similarities and differences and how that influenced the region? Looking at a part of Judaism and its divisions, allows for better understanding of the region and its culture. During Biblical times there was a lot of disagreement between different religious sects. This caused quite a bit of hatred of the people who inhabited the land during the time of the Samaritans. The Samaritans were considered a less respected group of people than the strictly Orthodox Jews and this added to the tension of the region. Who were the Samaritans? The Samaritans call themselves “Benei Yisrael”, Hebrew for the “children of Israel”, or “Shamerim”, Hebrew for the “Observant

They accepted only the five book of the Bible as canonical, and their temple was on Mount Gerizim instead of on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The Samaritans sometimes were stricter than Jews about the commands of the Mosaic Law, especially the Sabbath regulations. They did not share the Jewish stricture against pronouncing the divine name Yahweh in their oaths. The Samaritans were despised by ordinary Jews because of their imperfect adherence to Judaism and their partly pagan ancestry. Rather than contaminate themselves by passing through Samaritan territory, Jews who were traveling from Judea to Galilee or vice versa would cross over the river Jordan, bypass Samaria by going through Transjordan, and cross over the river again as they neared their destination. The Samaritans also harbored antipathy toward the Jews. The development of Samaritanism and its alienation from Judaism was a process that began with the division of the kingdom of Israel. Later, after Israel’s fall to the Assyrians, they began to intermarry with the Assyrians, against what is said in Deuteronomy 7:3-5. This is why the Jews hated the Samaritans and referred to them as “dogs” or