Image Details

Courtesy of the Matson Collection, the Episcopal Home

The venerable Samaritan high priest Jacob ben Aaron was photographed early in this century by the famous photographer G. Eric Matson. Perhaps best known from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), the Samaritan community today survives in just two enclaves, at Nablus, in the West Bank, and Holon, south of Tel Aviv, and numbers fewer than 600 members. The Samaritans exhibit many similarities to Judaism in their religious practices, as well as some important differences.