Andrew Esensten, a leading authority on the community who is writing a book about its history, wonders whether the timing might be connected to a nonpolitical issue. The Hebrew Israelites — who embrace a vegan lifestyle and are suspicious of modern medicine — have refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Indeed, a large billboard put up by the city outside Kfar Hashalom urging residents to get vaccinated was recently defaced. It is also possible, says Esensten, that the timing is coincidental and that the letters were sent now for no other reason than that the ministry finally got around to processing them.
Justifying their existence. Pushing back against the Interior Ministry is a group of young members of the community who serve in the military. Immanuel Ben-Yehuda, a senior member of the Holy Council, the governing body of the community, says the deportation threat is especially demoralizing for this younger generation. For most Israelis, Ben-Yehuda says, it is difficult to understand why anyone like him, who had the opportunity to live in America, would choose not to.
Congress and State Department. It looks like Israel needs to be reminded of this once again, he laments. Judy Maltz Apr. Get email notification for articles from Judy Maltz Follow. Open gallery view. A billboard at the Hebrew Israelite community in Dimona, southern Israel. Credit: Eliahu Hershkovitz. Dawn Hercules in Dimona. Facing deportation from Israel. A woman working in the Hebrew Israelite community in Dimona earlier this week.
Ahmadiel Ben-Yehuda in front of a sign celebrating members of the Hebrew Israelite community. Tsedaka went into his bedroom, and when he emerged, I was shocked by his transformation. He wore traditional ancient Israelite clothes: a long, white robe, tarboosh red cylindrical hat with the white band of an elder and sandals.
We walked down the main street to the synagogue, joining other men and boys dressed like Tsedaka heading in the same direction. They left their sandals outside the sanctuary door. Inside, they sat, kneeled and stood on rugs, sometimes bowing their heads in the direction of their ancient Tabernacle. The sound of their prayers was deep and throaty. After the service, a group of men approached me at the back of the synagogue, where I was sitting on a plastic chair.
Samaritans are not permitted to watch television or use anything electric on the Sabbath. But even on their holiest day of the week, they still wanted to know how their team had done. Tsedaka, like all the other men, goes to the synagogue three times on the Sabbath day, starting at At , we headed back to the synagogue for 90 minutes of melodic prayer, and then visited several Samaritan homes, which is a custom on Sabbath. As the sun set, half of the men did their final prayers for Sabbath in the synagogue and the other half on the sacrificial grounds on Mount Gerizim where the startlingly gory Samaritan Passover takes place.
All the animals are slaughtered at once, and roasted on spits in large, sunken fire pits. At midnight, the roasted lamb is consumed rapidly with matza and bitter herbs. Today, the solid rock well is in a sunken crypt on the grounds of a Greek-Orthodox monastery, and I purchased a small ceramic souvenir bottle of well water.
On my last visit to Mount Gerizim in , Tsedaka got permission for me to meet with the High Priest, the spiritual leader of the Israelite Samaritans who I had heard could trace his lineage back through high priests to the second son of Aaron, the brother of Moses. The gate swung open and I was cordially ushered inside to an ornate living room.
Within minutes, the white-bearded High Priest entered, wearing a grey robe and red turban. A dignified man in his early 80s, he was accompanied by his deputy High Priest and members of his family. He motioned for me to sit next to him on a sofa. The audience had begun. The meeting was very friendly, until I mentioned that I had once eaten camel.
The High Priest grew ashen and his family looked away, as though embarrassed. Still, this is not to seek validation — Funnye emphasizes — but to seek common ground. A group of high school students from Kentucky visiting Washington, D.
One of the gunmen who allegedly attacked a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, New Jersey in December was reportedly a former member of a Hebrew Israelite group. Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum forward. Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward.
Contact him at kestenbaum forward. Home Share Search. Email Facebook Twitter. Give Podcast Subscribe. Updated December 11, Their story rarely finds its way into the mainstream news. When it does, readers are surprised. Image by Forward Association Rabbi Matthew, second from left at table, founder of the Commandment Keepers, leading a Passover seder in Sam Kestenbaum Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward.
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