The Feast of Freedom is one of the largest Samaritan holidays. It commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their liberation from Pharaoh and his servants’ bondage. In the Torah, it is referred to as “Pesach” Passover because God spared the Israelites when He struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians and saved the firstborn of the Israelites on the night of their liberation from Egyptian slavery. It is both a religious and seasonal holiday, as it marks the arrival of spring each year.

This holiday takes place on the night of the 14th day of the first Hebrew month according to the Samaritan Hebrew calendar. On this night, the Israelites departed from the city of Rameses, located east of the Egyptian Delta, heading toward the land of Canaan. It was during this time that God struck down every firstborn in Egypt, causing great wailing throughout the land, as no household was spared from loss. That night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them: “Rise up go forth from among my people both you and the people of Israel” (Exodus 13:12).

And God spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: “This month shall be the beginning of months for you” (Exodus 12:2). On the tenth day of this month, the Samaritan takes a lamb according to the households of their fathers—a healthy male, one year old, from either the sheep or the goats—and keeps it until the fourteenth day of the month. Then, the entire congregation of Israel offers the sacrifice at twilight. They take the blood and roast the meat in fire, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They place the blood on the doorposts and the upper lintel of the houses in which they eat

For 3,663 years, and continuing to this day, the Samaritans have been offering their sacrifices as a covenant and a cherished commemoration, expressing their gratitude and appreciation to their Creator, who liberated them from the bondage of Pharaoh and his servants in Egypt. The Samaritans celebrate this occasion elders and youth, women and children alike dressed in unified white garments, with shoes on their feet and staffs in their hands, eating the sacrificial meal in haste.

When they left Egypt, the people carried their dough before it had risen, wrapping their kneading bowls in their clothing and placing them on their shoulders. They journeyed from the city of Rameses to the station of Succoth (Al-Arish). They baked the dough they had taken from Egypt into unleavened bread, known as “Mella bread,” since it had not had time to ferment. The reason for its lack of fermentation was that they were expelled from Egypt and had no time to delay, making it impossible for them to prepare provisions for themselves. As stated in the sacred law: “For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day, there shall be a festival to the Lord” (Exodus 13:6). Thus, the Feast of Unleavened Bread became the second in the series of Samaritan religious festivals, lasting seven days, immediately following the night of Passover.

The scripture commands: “For seven days, no leaven shall be found in your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether a foreigner or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings, you shall eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:19).