Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Last night, we went up to Mount Gerizem to see the Samaritan Passover. The Samaritans live on a mountain right near Nablus. Their religion is similar to Judaism, but there are 6000 differences between their holy book and the Talmud. They have always lived here. They work and go to school among the other people of Nablus. Their passover is on the same day as the Jews in Israel.
I went up on the mountain last week with Elizabeth, Ja'far and Saad. We wanted to get information about the passover. There is one big difference between the Samaritans and the Nabulsi. The Samaritans drink alcohol. Alcohol is illegal in Nablus. So, many people go up on the mountain to buy alcohol. We went in a little grocery store there to buy a soft drink. It was full of all kinds of alcohol. They also had things like corn and peas, but it looked more like a liquor store than a grocery store.
When we were there last week, we could see the preparations for the passover. You can see the piles of olive wood and lemon tree branches.
We asked about the passover and they said people are welcome to watch. Then we walked back down the mountain. It is very steep and took about an hour. I'm glad we took a taxi up, but the views on our way down were beautiful.
So, last night, we took a taxi there at about 5:30. I should also mention that this is the first time I saw Saad and Ja'far since before I went to Jerusalem and they acted so happy to see me and told me over and over that they had missed me. (I was only gone for a weekend). They are really sweet. I bought prayer beads for them in Jerusalem. (Of course, they can't go there without a permit and the Israelis never grant permits to Palestinian men under 35.) When we got to the top of the mountain, there were buses and tourists there. The big gate was almost closed and soldiers were guarding it. A guide told us that they were not letting people in. Your name had to be on a list. He was upset because he had brought tourists in. We stood around for a while and then they started letting people in. I think they had collected money from some people and were giving them prime seats in stands to watch. Once those people were in, they were willing to let us be on the street to watch. We needed to show ID. I didn't have my passport with me, but I showed my Israeli visa card and a copy of my passport that I had in my wallet. (I like to leave my passport in the house so I won't lose it.) They looked at my ID and Elizabeth's passport and said we could go in. Ja'far and Saad said we should go on our own, but we said we weren't going if they couldn't go in. They gave their Palestinian ID's. The soldiers took them and went to make a phone call. We had to wait a while and then they let them in. Saad told me later that his heart was pounding when they had his ID. They are really terrified of the soldiers. Ja'far won't admit it, but he said he wouldn't go back to see it again - "and let those guys be in control of whether I enter."
We found a spot outside a railing to watch. There was another gate there, but a soldier was allowing only Samaritans to enter. The Samaritans were dressed all in white. Their heads were covered, but not by kippas - most men were wearing baseball caps. Some had rubber boots on. They slaughtered 55 sheep. We could see them leading the sheep over to the area. The sheep definitely did not want to go.
They were definitely fighting going there. Ja'far said that in Islam, you aren't allowed to kill an animal in front of another animal. (The actual slaughter itself is basically the same for Jews and muslims. You slit its throat and say a prayer - "God is great." in Arabic for the muslims) We couldn't see the actual slaughter itself from where we were standing, but we saw people come back with bloody knives. They had pits where there were fires going. Kids and adult men would throw lemon branches in to keep the fire high. Once the sheep were slaughtered, thew put them on large skewers and were lining up the skewers. They also would take the skins and hang them on a pole over the fire.
We were standing and watching for a couple hours. It was getting late and it looked like they weren't going to get to roasting the actual lambs for a long time. They kept bringing more and more skewers over. Buses were leaving. We decided that we had seen enough. But we did see that they use aluminum foil when roasting them.
We started to walk down and we could hear music coming from a house. We went to see and it was a muslim family who were playing music, etc. They invited us in. There were some people up on the roof and we went up with them. We watched while some danced in the yard below. Ja'far commented that it would have been better if they had refused us entry and we had found this gathering instead. (That's what had happened to some of the people at the house.) I think Ja'far was really uncomfortable with the whole thing. I will have to try to talk to him about it another time. Anyway, we met some musicians who will be playing at the festival on Sunday. They are from several European countries. We stayed about 30 minutes and then walked down the mountain. I was definitely quite tired when we got home. We stood on top of the mountain watching for about 2 hours and then it was about an hour walk home. My feet were really hurting!
Last night, we went up to Mount Gerizem to see the Samaritan Passover. The Samaritans live on a mountain right near Nablus. Their religion is similar to Judaism, but there are 6000 differences between their holy book and the Talmud. They have always lived here. They work and go to school among the other people of Nablus. Their passover is on the same day as the Jews in Israel.
I went up on the mountain last week with Elizabeth, Ja'far and Saad. We wanted to get information about the passover. There is one big difference between the Samaritans and the Nabulsi. The Samaritans drink alcohol. Alcohol is illegal in Nablus. So, many people go up on the mountain to buy alcohol. We went in a little grocery store there to buy a soft drink. It was full of all kinds of alcohol. They also had things like corn and peas, but it looked more like a liquor store than a grocery store.
When we were there last week, we could see the preparations for the passover. You can see the piles of olive wood and lemon tree branches.
So, last night, we took a taxi there at about 5:30. I should also mention that this is the first time I saw Saad and Ja'far since before I went to Jerusalem and they acted so happy to see me and told me over and over that they had missed me. (I was only gone for a weekend). They are really sweet. I bought prayer beads for them in Jerusalem. (Of course, they can't go there without a permit and the Israelis never grant permits to Palestinian men under 35.) When we got to the top of the mountain, there were buses and tourists there. The big gate was almost closed and soldiers were guarding it. A guide told us that they were not letting people in. Your name had to be on a list. He was upset because he had brought tourists in. We stood around for a while and then they started letting people in. I think they had collected money from some people and were giving them prime seats in stands to watch. Once those people were in, they were willing to let us be on the street to watch. We needed to show ID. I didn't have my passport with me, but I showed my Israeli visa card and a copy of my passport that I had in my wallet. (I like to leave my passport in the house so I won't lose it.) They looked at my ID and Elizabeth's passport and said we could go in. Ja'far and Saad said we should go on our own, but we said we weren't going if they couldn't go in. They gave their Palestinian ID's. The soldiers took them and went to make a phone call. We had to wait a while and then they let them in. Saad told me later that his heart was pounding when they had his ID. They are really terrified of the soldiers. Ja'far won't admit it, but he said he wouldn't go back to see it again - "and let those guys be in control of whether I enter."
We found a spot outside a railing to watch. There was another gate there, but a soldier was allowing only Samaritans to enter. The Samaritans were dressed all in white. Their heads were covered, but not by kippas - most men were wearing baseball caps. Some had rubber boots on. They slaughtered 55 sheep. We could see them leading the sheep over to the area. The sheep definitely did not want to go.
They were definitely fighting going there. Ja'far said that in Islam, you aren't allowed to kill an animal in front of another animal. (The actual slaughter itself is basically the same for Jews and muslims. You slit its throat and say a prayer - "God is great." in Arabic for the muslims) We couldn't see the actual slaughter itself from where we were standing, but we saw people come back with bloody knives. They had pits where there were fires going. Kids and adult men would throw lemon branches in to keep the fire high. Once the sheep were slaughtered, thew put them on large skewers and were lining up the skewers. They also would take the skins and hang them on a pole over the fire.
We were standing and watching for a couple hours. It was getting late and it looked like they weren't going to get to roasting the actual lambs for a long time. They kept bringing more and more skewers over. Buses were leaving. We decided that we had seen enough. But we did see that they use aluminum foil when roasting them.
We started to walk down and we could hear music coming from a house. We went to see and it was a muslim family who were playing music, etc. They invited us in. There were some people up on the roof and we went up with them. We watched while some danced in the yard below. Ja'far commented that it would have been better if they had refused us entry and we had found this gathering instead. (That's what had happened to some of the people at the house.) I think Ja'far was really uncomfortable with the whole thing. I will have to try to talk to him about it another time. Anyway, we met some musicians who will be playing at the festival on Sunday. They are from several European countries. We stayed about 30 minutes and then walked down the mountain. I was definitely quite tired when we got home. We stood on top of the mountain watching for about 2 hours and then it was about an hour walk home. My feet were really hurting!
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