For students & curious minds
Follow a thread.
Choose a reading path. Each one connects a few articles around a question, with a short reflection at the end of every article.
Path 01 · 12 minutes
A first introduction
Start with identity, place, and the ways the tradition is learned.
Path 02 · 9 minutes
A tradition in everyday life
Follow the rhythms of a Sabbath and a festival inside the home.
Path 03 · 12 minutes
The classroom & the voice
Explore learning, recitation, and melodies passed from teacher to student.
Path 04 · 7 minutes
Meet the storyteller
Read the childhood moments behind Abood’s work as a guide.
A few words to know
A small companion glossary.
Torah
The five books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In Abood’s account, the Torah stands at the center of Samaritan identity and religious life. Source: manuscript pages 3–6.
Shamèrem
The community self-designation rendered in the manuscript as “guardians of the Torah.” Spellings of spoken terms can vary when written in English. Source: manuscript pages 5–6.
Mount Gerizim
The mountain held sacred in Samaritan tradition, toward which the community turns in prayer. Source: manuscript pages 3, 11–14, 30.
Hatimat Torah
The celebration of completing a first reading of the Torah with a teacher, followed by further learning. Source: manuscript pages 17–20.
Nobeh
The weekly Torah reading described by Abood, with extended families sitting together and reciting verses in familiar melodies. Source: manuscript pages 32–33.
Bakhoor
The incense Abood describes being prepared on charcoal in the synagogue before the Friday evening service. Source: manuscript pages 30.
Sukkah
The temporary festival space for Sukkot. Abood describes Samaritan canopies of fruit and branches usually hung inside the home. Source: manuscript pages 12–13.
