Photo by Batya Sharabi/TPS-IL on 1 June, 2025

Samaritan Worship at Mt. Gerizim

Religion By TPS   •   1 June, 2025

Jerusalem, 1 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Israel’s Samaritan community of 800 marks the holiday of Shavuot on Mt. Gerizim next to Shechem (Nablus) on June 1, 2025. The Samaritans broke with mainstream Judaism between the 8th and 5th centuries BCE amid differences over Judaism’s Oral Tradition and the centrality of Jerusalem. The Jewish world celebrates Shavuot — which marks the anniversary of God giving the Torah to Moses at Sinai — at sundown on June 1. Photo by Batya Sharabi/TPS-IL