The Samaritan Passover

Tonight Passover begins and we’ll be observing the Seder with our students in the classroom. That will be a good time of remembering God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt. One aspect that we’ll miss that the ancients didn’t was the cost of that deliverance – the death of the firstborn. The Lord “passed over” the homes of the Israelites where the blood of a substitute was on the doorposts, but even that required a death.

The Samaritans don’t lack this. Because they did not worship at the temple in Jerusalem, they were unaffected by its destruction in 70 A.D. And their sacrifices have continued without interruption. Last night all of the Samaritan families slaughtered their lambs on Mt. Gerizim. It was a graphic reminder of the nature of sacrifice and the wages of sin.

I’ve written on this before, and though my thinking may have matured in some ways since then, I don’t have the time today to write about it. But four of the top five links for “Samaritan Passover” on Google (top 3 of 5 on Yahoo) are to my articles or sites. But you only get the latest photos here.

For about 30 minutes before the sacrifice, the elders and priests gather and sing their prayers.

One man slits the throat of all of the sheep.

The entrails are placed on a grate over the fire and salt is added with some liberality.

And the blood is spread on the doorposts of the houses in the Samaritan village.