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| Tomb of Joseph, Shechem, courtesy, KeverYosef.org |
Elon Moreh, just outside of Shechem, was the first place where Abraham settled upon his arrival in Canaan and his grandson Jacob would often visit the city itself. When the Israelites reentered Canaan after fleeing from slavery in Egypt, they had brought with them, the remains of Joseph and buried him, it was said, in a field on the city’s outskirts. This burial spot became a place of Jewish and Samaritan pilgrimage ever since. Also buried nearby were Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Menashe, as well as the sons and grandsons of Aaron – Eleazar, Ittamar, and Pinhas. In the time of Joshua, Shechem was a major city allotted to the Israelite tribe of Menashe. During the period of the Judges, the Israelite rebel judge Abimelech ruled from there. When the Kingdom of Israel divided in two, Shechem served, at various times, as capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel. During the Second Temple period, the majority of its population was Samaritan. After the Roman destruction of Judea in 70, Emperor Vespasian decided to call the city “Flavia Neapolis” or “Neapolis” – New City. In 362, the Samaritan high priest Akbon built a synagogue on Mount Gerizim, the holiest site for the Samaritan people and it remained their chief synagogue for many centuries thereafter. During the Byzantine period, Christians and Christian converts began to colonize the city creating tension with the Samaritan inhabitants. In 484, the city became the site of a deadly encounter between the two groups, provoked by rumors that the Christians intended to remove the remains of Aaron's sons and grandsons. Consequently, the Samaritan side was summarily crushed by a Byzantine military force and as a result, Emperor Zeno erected a church dedicated to Mary on Mount Gerizim. He also forbade the Samaritans from travelling to the mountain to celebrate their religious ceremonies, and expropriated their synagogue there. These actions by the emperor fueled Samaritan anger towards the Christians further. Thus, they rebelled again, reoccupying Mount Gerizim, which was subsequently, however, reconquered by the Byzantines. A third Samaritan revolt which took place under the leadership of Julianus ben Sabar in 529 was perhaps the most violent. The forces of Emperor Justinian I were sent in to quell the revolt, which ended with the slaughter of many Samaritans in the city. But the community, on the whole, survived however and they were later joined by a resurgent Jewish community. With the Arab Muslim conquest and consequent Arab colonization in the 7th century, the city’s name was thereafter Arabized from Neapolis to Nablus. The Samaritans regained their synagogue on Mount Gerizim and, in spite of several periods of persecution, they, as well as the Jews, prospered.
At the beginning of the Crusader period (1099) and the accompanying wars to take the Land of Israel away from the Muslims, the Jewish community of Shechem addressed a formal letter to Rabbi Aviatar, Nagid (Chief Rabbi) of Egypt, who also ruled over the Jews in the Land of Israel, asking for positive information concerning the messianic era due to the situation. But as the Crusaders secured its control over the land, the Jews were persecuted and driven out of the city. The Samaritans, on the other hand, were not, and kept as a tolerated minority, probably due to their positive portrayal in the New Testament. In 1120, the Crusaders drafted the laws of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Council of Nablus which, by and large, allowed for the opportunity of the city’s Muslim, Christian and remaining Samaritan inhabitants to prosper. However, they converted the Samaritan synagogue into a church prompting the Samaritans to build a new synagogue a decade later. Meanwhile, Jewish and Samaritan pilgrimages to the Tomb of Joseph continued. This fact is first mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela who also related that in his time there were no Jews at all in Nablus but a large Samaritan community and that they had possession of the tomb. In 1210, the city was visited by Rabbi Shmuel ben Shimshon who came from France and in 1215, by Rabbi Menachem ben Peretz of Hebron. In 1244, the Samaritan synagogue was forcibly converted into, what became known as, al-Khadra Mosque. By 1267, Shechem had an established Jewish community as was alluded to by Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman who was given a Torah scroll from the city and brought it to his synagogue in Jerusalem.
After the Crusader period, the Samaritan community regained control of Mount Gerizim. In the fourteenth century there occurred what may be called a literary renaissance among the Samaritans, due to the initiative of their high priest Pinhas ben Yosef, who held office from 1309 to 1363 and who was a man of high character and strong influence. He was assisted by his sons Eleazar and Avisha, and by the writer Yosef Harabban. They wrote liturgical works in Hebrew rather than in Aramaic, the Samaritan language of prayer. But there were others who wrote literary works in Arabic such as the scholar Abu al Fath. Avisha died before his son Pinhas was born. The child was then brought up by his uncle Eleazar until he was in his eleventh year when his uncle died. But before he died, he appointed a certain Abdallah ben Shlomo as his nephew's guardian to whom, Pinhas pays a grateful tribute in one of his compositions. Abdallah (who was a kohen) wrote a great number of liturgical pieces himself, especially in regards to the marriage ceremony. His collaborator was Sa'd Allah ben Ṣadaḳah al-Kathari, who was probably of a Damascus family, and who also wrote many pieces of his own. Throughout the 14th century, Shechem received many Jewish pilgrims and other visitors as well such as Ishturi haParhi in 1320, and Isaac Ḥelo c. 1330 who stated that people came from afar to Nablus to visit the tomb of Joseph and Jacob's well, and that there were in the place few Jews, but many Samaritans.
Under the Ottomans, the fortunes of the local Jews and Samaritans often ebbed and flowed depending on the ruler of the city. In c. 1538, the Samaritan high priest, Pinhas VIII of the Damascus community, in order to escape the bloody persecutions of the Arabs of that city, removed, with most of his followers, to Nablus, accompanied by his assistant, Abdallah b. Abraham. The latter was an important author who came from a great literary family. In c. 1550, Rabbi Gershon ben Asher, author of the "Yiḥus ha-Ẓaddiḳim", and Rabbi Uri of Biel, made pilgrimages to Shechem. Rabbi Gershon precisely placed the Tomb of Joseph in the village of Al-Balaṭah, near Nablus, adding that visitors recite over the tomb, Psalms 77, 80, and 81. The anonymous author of "Yiḥus ha-Abot" said that the village Al-Balaṭah, which contained Joseph's tomb, is a Sabbath-day's journey north of Nablus. In 1623(4) the last member of the Samaritan high-priestly family, which claimed descent from the eldest son of Aaron brother of Moses, died. The office then devolved upon the junior branch, descended from Uzziel, the son of Kohath. Since that date the priest was bestowed with the title "ha-kohen ha-Levi," instead of "ha-kohen ha-gadol" as previously. At this time, the local Arabs were led by a sheikh, Muhammad ibn Farukh. He was well-known as a corrupt leader as well as a persecutor of Jews and Samaritans. The persecutions lasted until c. 1625 when he had bribed his way to become pasha of Jerusalem. By the 18th century, Samaritan literary activity seemed to enter a second renaissance. This was especially so among members of the Danfi family: Marjan Ab Sekhuah b. Ibrahim (about 1700), his son Meshalmah, his grandson Marjan, and his great-grandson Abdallah. Of the Levitical family the best-known is the priest Ṭabyah Ghazal, a prolific writer, who died in 1786. In 1749, renovations to the Tomb of Joseph were carried out under the direction of Rabbi Eliahu ben Meir, who came from Egypt and had probably served as Chief Rabbi of Shechem. During the course of the century, Jews came to the city and left, probably more frequently than any other city in Israel, owing to the fanaticism of the local Arabs.
By the first half of the 19th century, all but 1 family were immigrants, having coming from various parts of the Diaspora as well as from other cities in Israel. Many were living well in spite of constant persecution by the Arabs. Many were successful, or moderately successful, merchants such as David Seton from Aleppo, Menashe Matalon from Iraq who came in 1834, and Yitzhak Lisbona from Damascus who came in 1835. At this time, Joseph’s Tomb was frequented by both Jews and Samaritans as well as by Muslims and Christians and it was custom that Jewish and Samaritan pilgrims would write their names on the walls of the Tomb. It was recorded that the site was "kept very neat and in good repair by the bounty of Jews who visited it." Samaritan pilgrimages to Mt. Gerizim had also continued through the centuries and so did the Passover sacrifices. There were, however, several occasions during all this time, when the Arabs banned any pilgrimages to the site. But by the 19th century, under British pressure, such pilgrimages resumed. In 1838, the Polish Jewish traveler Louis Loewe, who served as secretary to Sir Moses Montefiore, had visited Shechem where he met the High Priest Shalma ben Tobia who told him, "We alone possess Mount Gerizim, and we alone offer sacrifices there". In 1842, under British influence and in order to alleviate their suffering, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Haim Gaggin, declared that the Samaritans were a branch of the House of Israel. But in the 1850s, there were, again, terrible pogroms when the Arabs attempted to force both the local Jews and Samaritans to convert to Islam. Some “Arabs”, such as members of the Kasem family who were themselves of Samaritan origin, saved many of the victims from the mobs. But the Samaritan population diminished even further. On the other hand, the small Jewish community, even though they became poor and in dire straits, managed to consolidate itself and even established several institutions to serve their needs, headed by men of good standing. The Tefilah l’Moshe Synagogue had been established earlier in what was known as the Jewish courtyard and was named after Sir Moses Montefiore who provided for its upkeep. Its president was Rabbi Mordechai Levi, the treasurer, Nissim Menahem Betzalel, the cantor, Mordechai Azari, the prayer leader, Rabbi Haim Levi, the beadle, Mordechai Alfassi, and the secretary and scribe, Shaul Yaacov. Another synagogue was the Me’arat Shechem located in an Arab courtyard. As the congregants of this synagogue were also very poor, the treasurer (Nissim Menahem Betzalel), cantor (Shaul Yaacov who was also prayer leader and scribe), and beadle (Mesud Turdjeman), would do their work pro bono. Its president was the Chief Rabbi of Israel. There was also a school attached to this synagogue. Its sole teacher was Shaul Yaacov. Another school, Torat Moshe, was also named after Montefiore and located in the Jewish courtyard. Although maintained by Montefiore as well as the Sephardic Kollel, this school had trouble staying afloat and was too poor to hire a teacher. The Yesud Olam Burial Society, headed by Nissim Menahem Betzalel, was the only institution in the city which provided all funeral and burial arrangements and food for the guests of the departed. At mid-century, this society found itself deep in debt. By the latter part of the century, the Tomb of Joseph fell into ruin, but it was again renovated in the 1890s. At the same time, sources would report the Jewish custom of burning small articles such as gold lace, shawls or handkerchiefs, in the two low pillars at either end of the tomb, in Joseph’s memory. According to an 1878 description: “A stone bench is built into the east wall, on which three Jews were seated…book in hand, swinging backwards and forwards as they crooned out a nasal chant–a prayer no doubt appropriate to the place.” By 1900, Nablus had a population of about 24,000, including 150 Jews, and 170 Samaritans under their High Priest Yakub ben Aharon, who had assumed his position 26 years before. In 1905, the English Jewish traveler Elkan Adler, in the course of his tour through Israel, had visited Nablus and while there, obtained a copy of a Samaritan chronicle which he had edited for western audiences. Later on, because of high taxes and oppression on Jews and Samaritans by the Turks and Arabs, the Jews fled and by 1906, there were no more Jews left in the city. Only the Samaritans remained, however precariously.
After the city was captured by British forces during World War I and the establishment of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922, Nablus was incorporated into the territory. Attempts to renew Jewish settlement were made in the 1920s, but because of the hostility of the Arabs and the 1929 anti-Jewish riots, such plans were thwarted and most of the remaining Jews were ethnically cleansed from the city. In the course of the British Mandate period, Shechem became, even more so, a hotbed of Arab Muslim fanaticism. Pilgrimages to the Tomb of Joseph ceased and did not resume until after the Six Day War in 1967. In 1947, Shechem was slated for inclusion in the Arab state envisioned by the United Nations General Assembly's partition plan for Palestine. But this resulted in the Arabs embarking on a war of annihilation against the Jews. After the war, Shechem came under Jordanian rule together with the rest of Judea and Samaria. After the Six Day War, Israel regained control of the city. Contact was then made between the Shechem Samaritans and those who had settled in Holon during the partition period. Pilgrimages to the Tomb of Joseph were renewed – but under heavy armed guard. In the 80s and 90s, a yeshivah was established on the site, Yeshivat Od Yoseph Hai. Even though an established Jewish community was prevented from being renewed, the Jews did the next best thing and establish communities near the city. Unfortunately, this brought in a number of extremists, on the Jewish side this time, who had no ancestral connection to the land. On June 2, 1980, Bassam Shakaa, the Arab mayor of Nablus/Shechem, survived an assassination attempt by the Jewish Underground, considered a terrorist group by Israel, which resulted in Shakaa losing both his legs. But as a long-time outspoken supporter of the PLO terrorist organization, in the spring of 1982, the Israeli administration removed him from office and installed an army officer who ran the city for the following three and a half years. In January 1986, the Israeli administration ended with the appointment of Zafer al-Masri as mayor. He was assassinated in 1986, purportedly by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Jurisdiction of the city was handed over to the Palestinian National Authority on December 12, 1995, as a result of the “Oslo Accords Interim Agreement on the West Bank”. In the 1990s, Nablus was a hub of Palestinian nationalist activity in Judea/Samaria even though roughly 13% of Arab settlers had no problem working in Israel. When the Second Intifada began, the Od Yoseph Hai Yeshiva was expelled, the Tomb of Joseph was desecrated, and a Druze soldier, Crprl. Madhat Yusef, who was guarding this Jewish holy site, was wounded by gunfire. Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in cooperation with the Arabs and Israeli army leaders, prevented the army from rescuing him, and they happily watched as Corporal Yusef bled to death. Later, Barak ordered the army to allow the Arabs to take over the Tomb. With his approval, they set fire to the site and later, painted its dome green, the color of Islam. Since then, the Tomb has been restored. In April 2002, following the Passover massacre—an attack by Palestinian terrorists that killed 30 Israeli civilians attending a Passover seder dinner at the Park Hotel in Netanya—Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield, a major military operation targeting in particular Nablus and Jenin. In 2008, Noa Meir, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said that Nablus remained the “capital of terror" of the “West Bank”.
Today, apartheid is alive and well in Shechem – Jews are prohibited, by Zionist and Arab law, from entering the city (as well as many other places in Judea and Samaria) and pilgrimages to Joseph’s Tomb is severely restricted. It has been suggested that about 2/3 of “Palestinian” Muslim families in the city are of Samaritan ancestry – Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others. According to historian Fayyad Altif, large numbers of Samaritans converted to Islam, especially in the 19th century, due to persecutions. But today, they are practicing Muslims and most identify themselves as Palestinian Arabs. The remaining Samaritan population was ethnically cleansed during the Second Intifada but the Israeli government built for them, the village of Kiryat Luza nearby and in close proximity to Mount Gerizim where their ancient synagogue is still in use. On the opposite side of Shechem is Mount Ebal where the archaeological remains of Joshua’s Altar are located. It was recently vandalized by local Arabs.
For more information on Shechem and the surrounding area, see postings on MOUNT GERIZIM and SAMARIA.
