the Samaritan community
by Shimi Cohen
The New Testament story tells of a parable that Jesus delivered to the man who sought "to inherit a worldly life." What does "and love your neighbor like you" mean?
Who are my friends? The man asked.
Jesus told of one man coming down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and of course - robbing him. Took everything except his life.
A priest passed by, saw and passed to the second sidewalk.
Levi passed, and acted like the priest.
A Samaritan had passed, and he took care of the man, entrusted to him by the owner of an inn that was on the scene and thus saved his life.
Every generation and its "bandits", because man created evil from his youth, and eyes are fiery, and appetite has no limit, and no matter what - want more, and you love what you have, and you can churn out verses and quotes endlessly.
In one of Seinfeld's mythical episodes, the heroes of the series find themselves behind bars because they didn't help prevent robbery. This happened in a remote town in Massachusetts, which decided to adopt the "Good Samaritan Law" requiring everyone to help others in times of trouble. The New York Quartet not only failed to come to the aid of a young man who was robbed, they documented the drama on a video camera while mocking his overweight.
What I thought to myself, that I traveled a total of one hour from the kibbutz to Mount Gerizim, is the biblical blessing mountain, to the Samaritan community, to participate with them on a pilgrimage to the mountain. Within an hour, I went back thousands of years back in time, and not only back, but also thousands of years into the depths of our identity — our ancestors.
As I climbed to the highest mountain peak in the heart of the country, I plunged into the depths of time and place, and my consciousness was flooded with questions, some of which existed. I'm not going to lay out the whole picture, but some of what I've experienced will come here.
