What is "samaritans"

n. (plural of samaritan English)

The Samaritans ( Samaritan Hebrew: שוֹמְרִים Samerim "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]", Shomronim, Samāriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant originating from the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East.

The Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, a religion closely related to Judaism. Samaritans believe that their worship, which is based on the Samaritan Pentateuch, is the true religion of the ancient Israelites from before the Babylonian captivity, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism, which they see as a related but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian captivity.

Ancestrally, Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Ephraim and tribe of Manasseh (two sons of Joseph) as well as from the Levites, who have links to ancient Samaria from the period of their entry into the land of Canaan, while some suggest that it was from the beginning of the Babylonian captivity up to the Samaritan polity of Baba Rabba. Samaritans used to include a line of Benjamin tribe, but it became extinct during the decline period of the Samaritan demographics. The split between them and the Judeans began during the time of Eli when, according to Samaritan tradition, Judeans split off from the central Israelite tradition.

The Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that Joshua conquered Israel. The major issue between Rabbinical Jews (Jews who follow post-exile rabbinical interpretations of Judaism, who are the vast majority of Jews today) and Samaritans has always been the location of the chosen place to worship God; Jerusalem according to the Jewish faith or Mount Gerizim according to the Samaritan faith.

In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called Cutheans (, Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq. In the biblical account, however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria, and they worshiped Nergal. Modern genetics partially supports both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the Talmud, suggesting that the genealogy of the Samaritans lies in some combination of these two accounts.

Once a large community, the Samaritan population appears to have shrunk significantly in the wake of the bloody suppression of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 CE) against the Byzantine Empire. Conversion to Christianity under the Byzantines also restricted their numbers. Conversions to Islam are also thought to have taken place, and the early Middle Ages Benjamin of Tudela estimated only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in Palestine and Syria.

As of January 1, 2015, the population was 777, divided between Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim and the city of Holon, just outside Tel Aviv. Most Samaritans in Israel and the West Bank today speak Hebrew and Palestinian Arabic. For liturgical purposes, Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic, and Arabic are used, all written with the Samaritan alphabet, a variant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, which is distinct from the Hebrew alphabet. Hebrew and later Aramaic were languages in use by the Jewish and Samaritan inhabitants of Judea prior to the Roman exile.

Although they are drafted into the Israel Defense Forces and considered by Rabbinic Judaism to be a branch of Jews, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel requires Samaritans to officially go through a formal conversion to Judaism in order to be recognized as Halakhic Jews. One example is Israeli TV personality Sofi Tsedaka, who formally converted to Judaism at the age of 18.

The Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline. The name comes from the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, though the organisation is secular. Its international network exists under the name Befrienders Worldwide, which is part of the Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) with Lifeline International and the International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services (IFOTES).