A tribe descended from the *Jews of the *Northern Kingdom. The Samaritans themselves claim to be descendants of the tribes of *Ephraim and *Manasseh. They were believed to have intermarried with the Assyrian conquerors after 721 BCE and were rejected by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian *exile under *Ezra and *Nehemiah. Because they were not permitted to worship in the *Temple in *Jerusalem, they built an alternative shrine on Mount *Gerizim. Throughout their history they have been persecuted by Roman, Christian and Muslim alike. Today only a small community survives near the town of Nablus.
Nonetheless they are recognised as *Israeli citizens under the *Law of Return. They retain their own *liturgy and customs and have developed their own Codes of Law. They keep all the *Biblical festivals and *sacrifice the *paschal lamb at *Passover. They keep the *Sabbath very strictly, they practise *circumcision and they keep the laws of ritual *purity. Until the 17th century their *High Priests were direct descendants of *Aaron and, after the last descendant died, they are now descended from Uzziel b. Veliat, the Uncle of Aaron. *Intermarriage between Jew and Samaritan is only allowed if the Jew is willing to keep all the Samaritan customs.
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