Page Six

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

nearly, if not entirely, resemble God, in Moses, the Pentateuch,
those used during the days of the Mount Gerizim and the Day of
Exodus from Egypt and the late r Judgment. Incidentally, all
israelite journeying in the desert • prayers are chanted from prayer
It is now Passover eve. Spe books which are hand written in
ially selected sacrificial lambs the Samaritan Hebrew, the oldest
are contentedly wandering about, form of that language in use.
not realizing their impending
In the meantime, the younger
fate. These had been purchased men and some boys have carried
some days before, in accordance out the lambs and hold them in
with the Mosaic law, "in the a circle about the trench altar,
tenth day of this month they where the caldrons of water are
shall take to them every man a already boiling. And over the
lamb . . . Your lamb shall be sheep stand three "shochtim" or
without blemish, a male of the slaughterers. As the reading pro-
first year . . . and ye shall keep ceeds, it is so arranged that, as
it until the fourteenth day of the the passage "then shall all the
same month."
convocation of the assembly of
At the eastern end of the camp Israel slay it between the two
is the "Itiniseh" or synagogue evenings" is spoken, at the word
where the religious rites are ob- "slay," with one deft stroke
served while in , camp. It is a downward, each of the slaughter-
small, oblong plot surrounded by ers cuts one throat and jumps to
a low rubble wall. At the north- the next.
One of the young priests col-
ern end of this space, or prayer
enclosure, a trench has been dug lects a quantity of the fresh
and lined with uncut stones. "An blood, from the lambs, in a ba-
altar of earth shalt thou make sin and then rushes to put a dab
unto me . . . and if thou wilt over the entrance of each tent,
make an altar of stone, thou recalling the passage ". . . for
shalt not build it of hewn stone; the Lord will pass through to
for if thou lift thy tool upon it, smite the Egyptians; and when
thou hast polluted it." Across he seeth the blood upon the lin-
this altar two large copper ket- tel the Lord will pass over (Pass-
tles, filled with water, are placed. over) the door, and will not suf-
It is beyond this northeastern fer the destroyer to come unto
end and higher than its level, your houses to smite you." (Exo-
that the "tanoor," the ground dus 12:22,23)
oven, for the sheep roasting, is
While the lambs are strug-
located. The tanoor is kindled gling for life, young people pass
and burns for five hours before among the Samaritan throng car-
it is ready.
rying trays of bitter herbs rolled
In the center of the plateau is in matzoth. The bitter herbs used
a large flat rock which the Sama- by the Samaritans is a type of
ritans call "kuds el Akdas," for wild lettuce which grows on
according to their tradition, it Mount Gerizim.
formed the Holy of Holies of
At the sacrificial altar the old-
their destroyed temple. They ap- er men stand about those to
proach it only on certain festal whom has been delegated the job
occasions and with bare feet.
of dressing the lambs, reading
As the sun sets, the Samari- the narrative of the Exodus as
tans are ready to begin their far as to Miriam's song. As soon
service marking the exodus from as the lambs become lifeless,
Egypt. The white-robed figures boiling water is poured over
begin collecting about the smok- them, after which the wool is
ing trench-altar. As they slowly plucked off instead of skinning
assemble they spread on the the animals, the purpose being to
ground small carpets which serve protect the flesh while it is being
as prayer cloths, upon which they roasted in the ground oven.
stand with bare feet. Before the
It is now night. The lambs
prayers, t h e Saiparitans go are suspended by their hind legs
through prescribed ablutions, on a pole resting upon the shoul-
washing with water three times
each the hands, mouth, face and
ti
feet.
After all have assembled, the
high priest takes his place in
front of the congregation. Stand-
ing slightly behind him are the
Cut-Rate Prescriptions
second priests. Facing the holy
12501
Linwood, cor. Sturtevant
rock on the crest to the east, the
Townsend 8-8812
worshippers now bow to the
Townsend 8-4908
earth in prayer. The service
opens with a special prayer writ-
ten 700 hundred years ago by the
priest Hassan el Suri. As the
prayer is recited, the rows of
worshippers kneel or rather sit
upon their heels with hands out-
stretched to heaven in petition.
The service ends with the re-
cital of the five articles of the Sa-
maritan creed, namely, belief in

Hammerstein's
Drugs

Season's Greetings

•

ders of two men. The offal, the
heart, liver and lungs are re-
moved by the light of a lantern.
Great care, of course, is taken
not to break any bones, for the
Samaritans strictly observe the
command: "neither shall ye break
a bone thereof."
This concludes the first part of
the ceremony. The second part,
which occurs late at night, con-
sists of the roasting of the
lambs. A couple of hours before
midnight the high priest appears
upon the scene and orders the
roasting of the sheep. The ani-
mals are cast into the pit. They
are then covered with leaves and
grass and then with caked mud.
The roasting goes on for three
hours. In the meantime the Sa-
maritans pass the time in idle
talk or in prayer. Many of them
lie down on their cots to rest for
their energies must be spared in
order that the participants will
feel fresh for the final part of
the ceremonial, that of eating
the Passover sacrifice.
An hour after midnight all are
ready. Hands and feet are washed
and the older men don white
garments. With girded loins and
with staffs in their hands, they
assemble in one congregation.
The roasted lambs are in baskets
and are placed upon the ground.
Matzohs and bitter herbs are
placed upon the sheep and then
portioned out among the assem-
blage by the high priest. When
all is ready, the Samaritans form
groups about the sacrificed sheep,
pulling them hastily to pieces
with their bare hands. Eating is
very rapid and in less than half
an hour all that is left is a
mound of bones. These are
thrown into the offal pit togethsr
with the utensils that were used
as well as any matzoths that are
left. They burn everything that

Friday, April 12, 1946

came into contact with the Pass-
over sacrifice, in order to abide
by the precept, "that which re-
maineth of it until the morning
ye shall burn with fire."' (Exodus
12:10)
For the remaining hours of the
night the congregation remains
awake reciting prayers until
dawn.
Thus the sacrifice and cere-
mony commemorating the Exodus
is ended.
Throughout the centuries, the
Samaritans have carried on the
ancient Pascal sacrifice in ac-
cordance with the laws of Moses.
However, the day is nearing when
even this people will not assem-
ble any more on Mount Gerizim

as

they have been doing since
days of yore. Death is rapidly
stalking in their midst, and when
their seemingly inevitable end
does come, Israel will be called
upon to utter the Kaddish for
one of its oldest yet one of its
bravest antagonists.

GREETINGS . . .

•

CANTON CHINA CO.

689 GRATIOT

Best Wishes for a Joyous Passover!

EVANS AND KEAYS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

THOMAS H. EVANS, C. P. A. ROLAND B. KEAYS, C. P. A.

Members of:

Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants
American Institute of Accountants

AUDITS — SYSTEMS — INCOME TAX SERVICE
INVESTIGATIONS

2Q36 DIME BLDG.

CADILLAC 2148

0=10=0=0=0=10=0=0=0

ii

O

O

Passover Greetings

O

O

Holiday Greetings
To All Jewry

UNION
TIRE CO.

il
n

Northwest Section

O

0

5440 Grand River
TY. 6.8220

PUBLIX CLEANERS

We Own and Operate Our Own Plant

13039 W.

McNICHOLS ROAD

UNIVERSITY 2.4600

=01 =10=01=101=10=10=0=

fi

We take pleasure in extending to our many

Jewish Friends and Patrons

Season's Greetings

PASSOVER GREETINGS

Cohen ti Eisenstat

DETROIT KOSHER

MEAT MARKET

8833 Linwood

TY. 6-3195

DETROIT BREWING CO.

2536 ORLEANS ST.

CAdillee 1600

SAM ELLIS CO.

Wholesale and Retail Clothing

401 Gratiot

Passover Greetings!

Season's Greetings

CA. 9458

Warshaw Prager
Bakery

Season's Greetings

B. LEVINE,

RESTRICK
LUMBER
CO.

This garment has been devel-
oped especially for women
whose figures verge on the ab-
normal and is designed to fit
and support the heavy pendu.
lous abdomen. It also relieves
strains over the lumbar area.

••

4444 Woodward

•

8605 Twelfth Street
TYler 5-6340

GENERAL DISCOUNT CORP.

/

g11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111113
A Very Joyous Passover to All

ACTIVE METAL CO.

=
--•.•
Dealers in All Grades of Scrap
=
=
Scrap Metal — Non.Ferrous Metals — Batteries — Tires --
NEW OR OLD
=
.--
=

5020

TE. 1-6880

111111

-

A Very Joyous Passover

Special Orders Taken for
WEDDINGS and PARTIES

•

JACK ROSENBERG
Mgr. Wyoming Yard

Ask Your Loaler

G. A. INGRAM
CO.

•

Prop.

We Join in Extending
Best Wishes to the Entire
Jewish Community for

16TH ST.—Zone 8—Corner Warren at Grand River
Call TYLER 4.9400 — TYLER 4.4510

11 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1IIIE •'•

HUBERT R. HAEUSSLER, President

Experience
Ability — Service
Approved F.H.A. Mortgages

9

1605 BARLUM TOWER

