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The Israelite Samaritans are Hebrews, children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yosef ben Yaakov is our father. Joseph gave birth to two sons, Ephraim and Menashe. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the land was divided into twelve tribes. The tribes of Ephraim and Menashe had the regions of Shomron and Gilead. The tribe of Ephraim spread from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean coast. In this way, their heritage split between the settlements of the northern tribes and the settlements of the southern tribes. The tribe of Levi had no defined heritage. Each tribe has designated cities in its territory. The chiefs of the tribe of Levites sat in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim. Other senior priests sat in the tribe of Judah. To this day, the sons of Aaron and his descendants are buried in the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim. Between the inheritance of the tribe of Judah and the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, an inheritance was assigned to the tribe of Benyamin. When the kingdom of David and Solomon split, the tribe of Benyamim was divided between the tribes of Yosef and the tribe of Judah. Until 1966, they were among the Benyamim tribe among the Samaritan Israelites. That year, the last member of the tribe of Benyamin died. To this day, the Samaritan Israelites are members of the tribes of Menashe and Ephraim, and are headed by priests of the sons of Aharon ben Amram, brother of the prophet Moses. In 1624, there were 112 high priests in the region of Samaria, the sons of the high priest Finas ben Elazar, in whom Aharon was Moses' brother. The high priesthood passed through them from father to son or members of the same family, in case the high priest did not have a son. This family was called "the sons of Phinchas". In 1624, after the alarming numerical decline among the Israelite Samaritans, the last high priest died from this family, and the high priesthood was transferred to the family of the priest sons of Ithamar, son of Aaron. The principle of transferring the priesthood was changed to the principle of "The eldest of his own brothers" Since then, there have been 20 high priests. The High Priest is responsible for administering the religious and traditional affairs of the community. He rarely governs the halachic rules, because in Torah there is an answer to most questions. Unofficially, his brothers, priests and heads of Israelite families advise him. Photos: Priests sons of Aharon, Moses Brother. Settlements tribes of Israel.

      Benyamin Tzedaka