The Samaritan
Update
A
Samaritan man was injured recently.
A fifty-year-old Samaritan man was injured in a terrorist attack on the return home on the curved road of Mount Gerizim, near Nablus. He was injured when he and his vehicle were hit by gunfire. He then lost control of his vehicle and was unable to stop at the blockade of an Israeli checkpoint. His advancing vehicle alarmed the Israeli soldiers at the roadblock and they took evasive action, firing at the vehicle. When the car finally stopped, the Israeli soldiers found the Samaritan man with three bullets in his leg and one in his abdomen. It is undetermined at this time, which party inflicted the majority of the wounds, the terrorists or the Israeli Army. His situation at the hospital is critical. Please keep this Samaritan man in your prayers.
Tour of Lectures began. Benyamim Tsedaka left his family in Holon, Israel, on the 28th of October, setting out on a speaking and investigation tour in the USA and Europe. His first stop was in Cincinnati were he gave lectures at the University of Cincinnati. He also called on the Hebrew Union College and catalogued their collection of Samaritan manuscripts. On November 1st, Benny arrived in Washington D.C., where he was involved in political meetings concerning the Samaritan communities access and safety on Mount Gerizim. Cultural meetings with local scholars regarding Samaritan Music were one of Benny’s happy moments, being the director of the vocal group. Lectures were also scheduled lasting till the 5th, where he arrives in St. Louis for more addresses. Then on the 12th Benny travels to Montana to give lectures and speak on Samaritan Music. On the 18th Benny travels back to the east to New York to catalogue the Samaritan manuscript collection at the Jewish Theological Seminary. While they he has been invited to speak at Queen’s College on the Samaritans. Benny flies to LA on the 22nd for more meetings and lectures. Benny has visited the US for many years in order to speak to people regarding the Samaritans-Israelites of Israel.
On November 29, he travels to Copenhagen to catalogue Samaritan manuscripts in the collection of the University of Copenhagen and has been asked to speak to the staff and the advanced students. Lectures will be given in Berlin and Bielefeld between December 4th and 8th. A busy schedule in Ljubljana between the 9th to the 11th will consist of a Samaritan exhibition involving lectures and meetings with political personal along with addresses the Slovenian media. On the twelfth, lectures scheduled at the University of Heidelberg, then off to the University of Neremberg. London is the last scheduled stop before Benny heads home on December 20th, where one more political meeting concerning the safety of the Samaritans and Mount Gerizim.
Benny always enjoys lecturing and meeting people from all walks of life. Benny is co-editor with his brother, Yefet, of the A.B. Samaritan News (biweekly newspaper) that has thousands of subscribers throughout the world. Benyamim co-founded the A.B. Institute of Samaritan Studies in Holon, Israel, that concentrates in four main areas of interest: Education and guidance, Research, Publishing and Searching for literary sources. He is an author of many research papers and wrote for many professional publications, such articles in relation to the Samaritans in the Hebrew Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia Judaica and the Encyclopedia of Zionism to mention a few. Of his latest works is the book, Summary of the History of the Israelite-Samaritans. Working on the production of many future books, the Samaritan Lexicon, A Selection of Stories from Israeli-Samaritan Folklore, an Abbreviated Samaritan History, A Compendium of Samaritan Rituals and a composition of nineteen Samaritan authors. If you would like Benny to visit your community in the future to speak regarding the Samaritans, please feel free to contact him at: tsedakab@netvision.net.il
Remember to buy your copy of the December
Issue of National Geographic
containing the article on the
Samaritan Passover
What is the Samaritan Music like?
Answer:
In 1975, when the composer K. Penderetzki was asked to write a symphony
for the central celebration of the 200th anniversary of the United
States, he decided to base his work on “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. He began
to search for special tones to represent the creation of the world. He felt the
appropriate region to find these tones would be the Middle East and
particularly, the land of Israel. With the help of colleagues in Israel, he met
with representatives of the various Jewish communities in Israel. Finally, a
friend of his, Mr. Hanoch Ron, a music critic at one of the largest newspapers
in Israel, brought him to the Samaritans, descendants of the ancient nation
that has never left the land of Israel. The Samaritan Singers performed the
Song of the Sea for him, the song of Miriam the Prophetess, sister of Moses,
sung by the children of Israel when they crossed the Red Sea. It took less than
two minutes for Penderetzki to
jump up from his seat in enthusiasm, crying out like Archimedes “Eureka! I’ve
found it!” The US bicentennial celebrations were indeed opened to the sound of
Samaritan notes.
Musicologists have studied Samaritan music since the beginning of this
century. R. Lachman of Vienna and A.Z. Idelson of Jerusalem were the first to
make recordings of it. In the 1950’s and 1960’s this was also done by Geshuri,
Valbeh, Hoffman, Katz and Herzog. However, the great wave of interest in
Samaritan music was sparked off by Penderetzi and his successor today is the
well known Israeli composer Noam Sherif, who uses many Samaritan sounds in his
works, such as in Tehila LeYerushalayim (Prayer for Jerusalem) and Mechayei
Hametim (Resurrection). Concert halls in the US, Europe and Israel have opened
their gates wide to concerts of Samaritan music, with independent performances
by the Samaritan Singers as well as appearances in programs of ancient and
contemporary song and music.
The uniqueness of Samaritan music is evident from the fact that
musicology has found no other music similar to it among known music of the
world. The leaning of Samaritan music towards the sources of ancient Israelite
music has given it its own unique nature. For scholars, this music is a clear
echo of ancient music, which no longer exists. This is particularly interesting
in view of the fact that the Samaritans in Israel lived for shorter or longer
periods of time under many changing rulers and with the many different peoples
who lived in the country, and yet no hint of foreign influence has been found
in this music. There is no similarity between this music and Eastern, Western,
Christian or Asian music. Professional listeners will be filled with great excitement when they
hear the first notes of these unique sounds.
Samaritan music is vocal music, unaccompanied by instruments, handed
down over the one hundred and thirty generations of the ancient
Israelite-Samaritan people in the land of Israel. It has been passed on in two
ways:
Thus the musical tradition is preserved, with its thousand different
songs and melodies, some of which are sung in prayer services and secular
ceremonies, on Sabbath and festivals and on joyous as well as sorrowful
occasions. Some of the songs are handed down directly, a clear echo of ancient
Israelite song, some were written by Samaritan composers in the latter half of
the first millennium and some in the first half of the second millennium era.
Samaritan music is in part composed of variations and coloratura
phrases, which cannot be followed by the written musical score, but in part has
a rhythmic unity, which facilitates writing musical scores and musical
arrangements for it. Musicologists have indeed tried their hands at this with
varying degrees of success.
Nonetheless, the uniqueness of Samaritan music
still stands out. The performances of the Samaritan Singers emphasize the three
most striking features:
1.
LEFT
AND RIGHT SINGING: Those who pray in the synagogue, which faces east, are
divided into two groups. Members of the first group are known as Rightists, and
sit on the right side of the synagogue. Members of the second group are called
Leftists and sit on the left side of the synagogue hall. There are prayer hymns
with 22 stanzas, the same number as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and
each verse has four short lines. The Rightists begin to sing the first verse
and when they get to the beginning of the third line, the Leftists begin to
sing the second verse. In this way all congregants continue singing to the end
of the hymn, each side singing its own verses. The Rightists sing the
odd-numbered stanzas while the Leftists sing the even-numbered ones. The cantor
of the synagogue always joins the Rightists.
2.
TRILLS-
ADDING SYLLABLES NOT IN THE TEXT: This is also a characteristic unique to
Samaritan music. The singers sing a given version but to embellish the song,
they add many phrases not among the syllables comprising the words of the given
text. In this manner two words can at times be sung for over two minutes, by
adding a variety of syllables and trills which are not part of the text. For
example, the word “kamu” from the verse: “the depths have covered them: they
sank into the bottom like stone.” (Exodus 15:5) or in ancient Hebrew, “yaradu
bammasalot kamu aaben”, is sung just like this:
kaaawaanuwwa’awwa’aaawwanuwwa’aamu’oooau’aoo’unwoo’aoo.
3.
SINGING
A GIVEN TEXT WITH A VARIETY OF MELODIES: There are many texts that are sung
with different melodies according to occasion – secular, Sabbath, festival or
pilgrimage. Thus, for example, the Song of the Day can be performed with more
than ten different melodies.
The enormous interest of scholars brought about the formation of the
Samaritan Singers, a group which began in 1980 to go out into the world and
participate in concerts and music festivals in Israel, Europe and the United
States, including the annual Musica Sacra International Festival held in Europe
and Fifth World’s Symposium of Choral Music held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
[1999]. After an appearance in Marktoberdorf near Munich, Germany [1992], a musicologist
approached the leader of the group and introduced herself as a member of a
scientific team of musicologists from diverse countries. With tears in her eyes
from the powerful emotion she felt, she recounted that for years the research
team had been trying to formulate the common music of the future from known
forms of music. To her great surprise, the ancient sounds that she heard in the
Samaritan Singers, as learned from 130 generations of their forefathers in the
land of Israel, were very similar to the common sounds, which the research team
had arrived at.
The sounds of the Samaritan singers can be located at our web site on
the main page under ancient music and are downloadable for your listening
pleasure. If you would like a cassette or a CD of the Samaritan Singers, please
contact Osher at: oshercpc@inter.net.il
The Samaritan Chronicle Or The Book of Joshua, the son of Nun.
Written by Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., 1890, CHAPTER XLIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE ERRING MAN WHO WAS ENVIOUS OF THE DESCENDANT OF FINHAS THE IMAM- PEACE BE UPON HIM.
Discord had
arisen between the descendant of Finahas (‘Ozi) and his cousin Ili (Eli), whose
name being interpreted means; the insidious. This erring man was of the tribe
of Itamar (Ithamar) the brother of el-Azar the imam (Priest). Now the right of
administration belonged to the tribe of Finahas (Phinahas), and it was the one
which was offering up the sacrifices upon the brazen altar, and stone altar. And
this man- the insidious- was fifty years old, and being great in riches had
obtained for himself the lordship over the treasure house of the children of
Israil (Israel); and he had obtained, through the knowledge of magic, what he
had acquired of riches, proud rank and wealth. And his self-importance being
great in his own estimation, he gathered to himself a company, and said unto
them: “I am one to whom to serve a boy is impossible, and I will not reconcile
myself to this, and I hope that ye will not be content to have me do this.” And
the company answered him: “We are under thy command, and under obedience to
thee: command us in whatsoever thou willest.” And he put them under covenant
that they would follow him unto the place where they purposed going on the
mourning of the second day (of the week). And he offered up offering on the
altar without salt, as if he was ignorant, and immediately started out on the
journey with his outfit and company, and cattle, and every thing that he
possessed, and settled in Seilun (Shiloh). And he gathered the children of
Israil into a schismatical sect, and held correspondence with their leaders,
and said unto them: “Whoever desires to behold miracles, let him come unto me.”
And there was collected to him a multitude in Seilun, and he built for himself
a shrine there, and organized matters for himself in it on the model of the
temple, and erected in it one altar, on which he might sacrifice and offer up
offerings. And he had two sons, who used to gather the women into the temple in
the mourning, and lie with them, and would eat up all that was present of the
offerings of wine and other things. And this man continued diverting the people
by magic, for the space of forty years; for God-exalted, exalted be He;
glorious be His might- delayed this unto him. And there was Shamul (Samuel) of
the tribe of Harun (Aaron), the Liwanite (Levite), the magican and the infidel;
for his father had delivered him over to him (Eli) when he was four years old,
saying unto him: “This is a son whom I have received in fulfillment of a
desire, and it occurred suddenly to my mind that this boy ought to serve in
this temple throughout the days of his life.” So the erring man received him,
and instructed him, and revealed unto him hidden things; and he grew to be as
potent in the working of magic as he himself was. And blessed be God who does
not punish the rebellious, except after long delay and showing mercy unto them. (This book will soon be found
in full at our website.)
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Books for Sale:
SIDDUR HATFILOT, Prayers for all year round according to the Samaritan customs. The prayers are written in Samaritan script (old Hebrew script). The title pages are in Hebrew. The book was copied and translated by Israel Tsedaka. This book was printed in Israel in 1961. In very good condition. Binding is in very good condition too. 17x24.5 cm. price: $80.00 US dollars, large and thick book, so S&H will cost another $15.00. Contact Chani Kaarlinsky: chanikr@netvision.net.il PRAYERS FOR THE FESTIVALS, written in Hebrew by Israel Tsedaka, $50.00 US dollars, plus shipping, Contact Chani Kaarlinsky: chanikr@netvision.net.il
Thank you! Osher and Larry would like to thank you for visiting
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Take care and may you be blessed from the Holy One above.
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