Yesterday I attended the Passover sacrifice of the Samaritan Israelite community on Mt. Gerizim. Anyone who has not seen the Samaritan Passover, cannot truly understand what Pesach should be. We Jews have become so accustomed to a Passover that is centered on everything but the Pesach offering that we can hardly visualize what a real Pesach is all about.

About 5000 Israelis were in attendance. It gave me joy to see the Israelis watch the the Samaritan women and children clapping and celebrating as 60 lambs were offered to the God of Israel. These Jews saw with their own eyes that sacrifice is not the horrific, frightening scene they had been taught to expect.

Yes, the Samaritans are bringing the offering in the wrong place. Yes, they are doing many things incorrectly. But we Jews could still learn a thing or two from this tiny remnant of the northern kingdom.

Their Pesach is led by the Kohanim. Imagine that! Kohanim that actually have a job to do. Their Pesach is focused on....The Pesach! The lamb!

While I was glad to see so many Jews in attendance, I both was saddened and embarrassed at the site of Samaritans answering questions and having to teach Israelis verses from the Torah as if they were little children.

How did we stray so far? How did we sink this low? I watched in horror as someone asked a Samaritan why he was putting salt on the skewered lamb. The Samaritan responded with Leviticus 2:13 "add salt to all your offerings".

The exile has given us a substitute Judaism that drew our focus away from Torat Moshe. If we are ever going to get ourselves back on track, we have to see through the kitniyot obsessions, the cheesecake, the donuts and dreidels, the costume parties, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. The problem is that we've traded in any connection to the awesome power and grandeur of the Temple service for donuts and cheesecake.

There is no doubt in my mind that we would have a real Passover next year if we really wanted it. When it comes right down to it, we don't. We want what we are familiar with. We are like the slave who was set free, but wept because he had become emotionally attached to his chains.

Get familiar with sacrifice. Start buying sheep and having them slaughtered. Learn how to salt your own meat. These are all thing that will get us acclimated to the sacrifice, things that will make it less foreign to us. Give it a try. And come see the Samaritan Passover. I promise it will be an experince you'll never forget.

Yoel Keren