Taulida and the Book of Joshua, as well as from the other writings no longer extant. Stemming from it is a long history of the Samaritans redacted about 1890 by the late high priest Jacob ben Aaron (1840-1918) and Murjan ben Asad. Of the minor chronicles the most interesting is that of Ibrahim ben Yakub the Danafite, dealing with events in the latter half of the 18th cent.

LITURGY. The Samaritan liturgy embraces several distinct collections. The earliest is the Defter (Codex) containing especially some twelve hymns by Markah and a series of poems, called Durran (String of Pearls), by Amram Darah. Embellished by later compositions by Tabiah ben Darta, Ab Geluga, Joseph the Rabban (of Damascus) and others, it remained the standard corpus liturgicum until the 14th cent., since when it has been greatly expanded. Besides the daily and festival liturgies, the Samaritans possess also two large collections known as the Book of Rejoicing and the Book of Mourning. There are also special services for marriage and circumcision.

The leading collection of Samaritan manuscripts is that of Moses Gaster, a large portion of which passsed, in 1918, to the British Museum. Other important collections are those of David Sassoon, in London, of the Academy of Sciences in Leningrad, and the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England. The Jewish Theological Seminary of America now houses the holdings of Elkan Adler, but these are mainly late copies. See also: JOSHUA, SAMARITAN Book of.

THEODOR H. GASTER.

Lit.: I. General: Montgomery, J. A., The Samaritans (1907); Gaster, Moses, The Samaritans (1925); Ben Zwi, I., Sefer Hashomronim (1935); Genna, G. E., I Samaritani (anthropology; 1938); Mills, J., Three Months Residence at Nablus, and an Account of the Modern Samaritans (1864).

II. Religion: Gaster, Moses, Samaritan Eschatology (1932; gives translated extracts from most of the religious texts). The same author rendered the Molad Mosheh in The Quest (London, 1930) 358-72; the Shalsheleth in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1909) 395-420; and the 613 commandments in Festschrift zum 75-jährigen Bestehen des Jüdisch-theologischen Seminars Fraenckelscher Stiftung, vol. 2 (1929) 393 et seq., besides leaving an almost complete series of manuscript translations of Samaritan literature.

III. Literature: Nutt, J. W., A Sketch of Samaritan History, Dogma and Literature (1874); Gaster, Moses, The Samaritan Literature, supplement to the Encyclopaedia of Islam (1925); idem, The Asatir (1927); Cowley, A., The Samaritan Liturgy (2 vols., 1909); Heidenheim, M., in Deutsche Vierteljahrschrift, vols. 2 to 4. Most of the published texts are listed in Montgomery, J. A., The Samaritans (1907) 323-46 (Bibliography). Important additions are: Ben-Haim, Z., "Samaritan Poems for Joyous Occasions," Tarbiz (1939) 190-200, 333-74 (Hebrew); Robertson, E., "Notes and Extracts from Semitic MSS. in the John Rylands Library, Manchester," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 1934 to 1938; Swarsensky, M., Die Begräbnis- und Trauerliteratur der Samaritaner (1930); Szuster, I., Marka Hymnen (1936).

IV. Language: Petermann, J. H., Brevis linguae Samaritanae grammatica (1873); Rosenberg, J., Lehrbuch der samaritanischen Sprache und Literatur (1901); Diening, F., Das Hebräische bei den Samaritanern (1938).

SAMBATION, a legendary river, in which water flowed for six days of the week, but ceased on the Sabbath; in a later legend, the water is replaced by sand and stones. The sources of the legend seem to have been the Biblical story of the manna, which fell in the wilderness on the six days of work, but not on the Sabbath, and the fact that there was a river in Syria which had a name resembling the word Sabbath. This stream is now called Fauvar ad-Der by the Arabs; but as early as the 15th cent. B.C.E. the name Shabbaton was applied both to the stream and to a locality near by. Josephus calls it the Sabbatical river, and declares

-SAMINSKY

that it remained dry for six days and flowed on the seventh (Jewish War, book 7, chap. 5); Pliny, on the other hand, says that it was only on the Sabbath that the river was dry (Natural History, book 30, section II). Modern scholars derive the name from the Syrian sabita, "wolf." The Talmud declares that Akiba used the phenomenon of the river Sambation as proof that the Sabbath was indeed the command of God (Sanh. 65a).

In subsequent centuries, the story of the Sambation began to be connected with that of the Lost Ten Tribes, which became a subject of speculation after the persecution of the Jews by the Romans; these tribes were said to live near the river Sambation. Non-Jewish writers also took up the legend, and it appears in the narratives of Ibn Abbas, a nephew of Mohammed, in the cosmography of Ibn Fagid Kazwini, in the legends about Alexander the Great, and in various works about the wonders of the world.

The appearance of the adventurer Eldad Hadani, who claimed to bring news from the Ten Lost Tribes and about the Sambation, caused the legend to be widely believed. In almost every century up to the middle of the 19th cent. travelers' tales appeared which either directly or indirectly referred to the Sambation and the Ten Lost Tribes. Among these are the stories of Pethathiah of Regensburg, Elijah of Ferrara (1435), Obadiah of Bertinoro, Gershom ben Eliezer (1624) and Baruch Gad (1646). Even Manasseh ben Israel naively mentions credulous legends about the Sambation. As late as 1817, 1831 and 1857 messengers were sent from Jerusalem to the Ten Tribes at the Sambation.

At first travelers sought for the Sambation in the region which had been described by Josephus; later, when it had become connected with the legend of the Ten Lost Tribes, they endeavored to reach it in Mesopotamia, India, East Africa, China, by the Caspian Sea, in Spain and other places. The poet Mordecai bar Isaac (12th cent.), in his Sabbath poem, Mah Yafith, compares Israel to the Sambation, since both work six days and rest on the Sabbath.

Lit.: Epstein, A., Eldad Hadani; Eisenstein, Otzar Hamassaoth (1926); Seligsohn, Max, in Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 10, pp. 681-83.

SAMECH, see ALPHABET.

SAMFIELD, MAX, rabbi, b. Markstift, Bavaria, 1844 (or 1846); d. Memphis, Tenn., 1915. He received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Würzburg and his rabbinical diploma from Rabbi Seligmann Baer Bamberger. In 1867 he came to the United States, where he was rabbi of B'nai Zion Congregation, of Shreveport, La., until 1871, when he accepted a call to B'nai Israel of Memphis. He did splendid work during the yellow fever epidemic two years later, and was respected by the entire community. Samfield was president of the Southern Rabbinical Association. In 1885 he founded The Jewish Spectator, and was its editor for many years.

Lit.: Central Conference of American Rabbis Year Book, vol. 26 (1916) 211-12.

SAMINSKY, LAZARE, composer and conductor, b. Vale-Gotzulovo, Russia, 1882. On his paternal grandmother's side he was related to the noted Hasidic Rabbi Shneor Zalman of Liubavich. At the University of St. Petersburg he specialized in mathematics and philosophy. Determined to adopt music as a career, he entered the class of Rimsky-Korsakoff in 1906. In 1909 he directed one of his own works at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. A year later he joined a group of young, progressive Russian musicians in the formation of the Society of Hebrew Folk Music, which became world

SAMOSCZ

famous because of its epoch-making researches into Jewish folk songs, and its encouragement to young composers to adopt a Hebrew idiom for their composition.

In 1913 he went to Georgia to study its religious music on a Baron Horace de Günzburg expedition. In the same year he directed his own Vigiliae in Moscow with the Koussevitzky Orchestra. He left Russia in 1919, lived for a while in Palestine, Paris and London, then settled permanently in New York city. In 1924 he was appointed musical director of Temple Emanu-El, whose choir he directed in annual spring festivals from 1935 on. He also directed symphony orchestras in concerts of modern music in New York, Paris and leading cities in South America.

In the field of composition Saminsky produced many works of outstanding artistic distinction. His works for orchestra were performed by orchestras in practically every music center in Europe and the United States, and include five symphonies, Ausonia, Three Shadows, Pueblo, and Chassidic Suite. He also wrote the music for the operas The Daughter of Jephta, Julian, the Apostate, and Caesar, as well as for the ballet The Lament of Rachel and others. His numerous choral compositions include many works for the synagogue.

Saminsky's music reveals a consummate mastery of form, imagination, deep poetic feeling and a tender. lyric vein. Saminsky wrote several books on mathematics, and two on music, Music of Our Day (1932) and Music of the Ghetto and the Bible (1934). He founded the New York Polyhymnia, and was COfounder of the League of Composers.

Lit.: De Paoli, Domenico, Lazare Saminsky (1930); Howard, John Tasker, Our Contemporary Composers (1941).

SAMMTER, ASCHER, Talmudist, b. Derenburg, near Halberstadt, Germany, 1807; d. Berlin, 1887. He first taught in the Hebrew school of the Jewish community of Halberstadt, founded by Rabbi Hirsch Köslin. From 1837 to 1854 he was rabbi of Liegnitz; thereafter he devoted himself exclusively to literary publications. He lived in Berlin from 1869 on, becoming a member of the Adass Jisroel and devoting himself to scholarship and literary work. Sammter's works include: Die Unsterblichkeit unserer Person wissenschaftlich beleuchtet (Liegnitz, 1843); Chronik der Stadt Liegnitz (1861-68); Der Rabbi von Liegnitz, a historical narrative of the Hussite period (Berlin, 1887 and 1891); Talmud Babli and Traktat Baba Mezia (with German translation and commentaries, Berlin, 1876); Mischnajot, the six divisions of the Mishnah (Hebrew text with vocalization, German translation and explanations); Seraim (Berlin, 1887). The edition of Moed was started by Sammter and continued by Eduard Baneth.

SAMOILOVICH, RUDOLPH LAZAREVICH, geographer and explorer, b. Azov on Don, Russia, 1884. He graduated from the Academy of Mining Engineering in Freiberg, Germany, as well as from the law school of the University of St. Petersburg. Revolutionary activities against the czarist regime resulted in his exile, in 1908, to Archangel, and in 1910 to Pinegu. From the latter point he was able to carry on some sea exploration. Subsequently he participated in an expedition to Spitzbergen, where he discovered important coal deposits.

In 1918 Samoilovich helped organize the Academy of Sciences commission for the study of the natural resources of the Arctic. When the commission was reorganized to become the Scientific Research Institute for the Study of the Arctic, Samoilovich became its director. From 1925 to 1926 he conducted research on Novaia Zemlia. But his most spectacular undertaking

Rudolph L. Samoilovich (center) with his shipmates of the ice-breaker Krassin

was his directorship of the expedition of the ice-breaker Krassin in 1928 for the rescue of Umberto Nobile, the Italian explorer, and his dirigible crew, who had been forced down in their attempt to reach the North Pole. For this exploit, which won the attention and sympathy of the whole world, Samoilovich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Later he conducted an expedition to Franz Josef Land and other unexplored territories. Samoilovich published many reports and studies of his work. In 1943 he was associated with the Arctic Institute in Leningrad.

Lit.: Samoilovich, Rudolph, in American Hebrew, July 5, 1929; July 12, 1929; July 19, 1929; July 26, 1929; Smolka, H. P., 40,000 Against the Arctic.

SAMOSCZ, DAVID, pedagogical writer and poet, b. Kempen, Germany, 1789; d. Breslau, Germany, 1864. He settled in Breslau at the age of thirteen. Samoscz translated into Hebrew numerous children's books written by non-Jewish authors. He was a friend of the nonJewish Orientalist Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius and of David Friedländer and Julius Fürst. He was president of the Jewish community of Breslau for many years until his death.

His writings include: Heharutz Veheatzel, a dramatic poem (Breslau, 1817); Halichoth Olam, a one-act play (Breslau, 1829); Esh Dath, a textbook for youth (3 parts, Breslau, 1834); Nahar Meeden, Biblical stories (Breslau, 1836).

Lit.: Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums (1864) 353

SAMPSON, JOHN JACOB, internist and cardiologist, b. Galveston, Texas, 1898. He began medical practice in San Francisco in 1923, and became one of the city's outstanding physicians, active in numerous health organizations and hospitals. He was appointed chief of medical service at Mt. Zion Hospital (1942), and chief of the Cardiac School Diagnostic Center of the city's Bureau of Child Hygiene. Sampson joined (1923) the teaching staff of the University of California Medical School; in 1943 he was associate clinical professor. He was president of the California Heart Association from 1938 to 1940.

Among the numerous medical studies which Sampson published on his researches were: (with M. Eliaser, Jr.) "Diagnosis of Impending Acute Coronary Artery Occlusion" (in American Heart Journal, June, 1937); (with A. Christie and J. C. Geiger) "Incidence and Type of Heart Disease in San Francisco School Children" (ibid., June, 1938); (with J. B. de C. M. Saunders and C. S. Capp) "Compression of Subclavian Vein by First Rib and Clavicle" (ibid., March, 1940); "Changing Conception of Coronary Artery Disease" (in California and Western Medicine, January, 1941).

ARTHUR FICHELL SAMPSON (b. Georgetown, S. C., 1855; d. 1934), father of John Jacob Sampson, received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1878, and pursued post-graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and at New York University. He also studied under Simon Baruch. In 1884 he began to practise medicine in Galveston, Texas, where he became prominent as a public health officer. Following the Galveston hurricane, in 1900, plenary powers were conferred on him by the mayor of Galveston and the adjutant general of the state.

In 1901 Sampson moved his practice to San Francisco. He was especially interested in the study and treatment of the various types of colitis, and contributed to the medical press on the subject. As a pioneer in the field of dysentery, he suggested the use of new therapeutic measures.

Lit.: Kagan, Solomon R., Jewish Contributions to Medicine in America (1939) 8, 603-4.

SAMPTER, JESSIE ETHEL, author and poet, b. New York city, 1883; d. Givath Brenner, Palestine, 1938. Subject to a home influence which was not immediately associated with Jewish life (her father being one of the founders of the Ethical Culture movement in the United States), Miss Sampter at first became attracted to the Unitarian Church. Her study of Old Testament teachings under these auspices, however, brought her back to the Jewish people, and she soon began to observe Jewish ritual, while studying Jewish history and the Hebrew language. She was a graduate of Columbia University.

Jessie Sampter met Henrietta Szold and became active in Hadassah during its early days, particularly preparing much of the early Hadassah educational material. In 1919, despite her semi-invalid condition (the result of a childhood attack of infantile paralysis), she went to Palestine and took up permanent residence there. From 1924 to 1934 she was active in relief work among the Yemenite Jews in Palestine, and then settled in Givath Brenner, a Kibbutz where, using her own funds, she built a convalescent home. Here she lived in close touch with the Jewish pioneers until her death in 1938.

She wrote The Great Adventurer; The Book of the Nations (1917); Guide to Zionism (1920); The Emek (1927); Modern Palestine (1933); Brand Plucked from the Fire (1937), and contributed articles and poems to numerous publications.

Jessie Ethel Sampter

SAMSON (Hebrew Shimshon), the last of the judges of Israel. The account of his life is given in Judges 13 to 16. His birth was previously announced to his parents by an angel, who directed that the son to be born to them should be reared as a Nazirite, that is, that he should never permit his hair to be shorn, or drink wine or strong drink. Samson grew up to possess great strength, which enabled him to perform such feats as killing a lion with his bare hands, carrying the gates of a city up a steep hill, and slaying a thousand enemies with the jawbone of an ass. He was at times friendly with the Philistines, the enemies of Israel, but became quickly enraged at some slight or injury, which led him to make ferocious attacks upon them. He finally was entrapped by a woman named Delilah, who succeeded in wheedling him into revealing that the secret of his strength lay in his hair. Once his hair was shorn, he was impotent against the Philistines, who blinded him and forced him to labor in a mill. Later, however, his strength returned as his hair grew, and when he was called out at a festival to make sport for the people, he threw his weight on two of the pillars and brought down the roof of the house, thus killing more in his death than in his life. The story is told with broad strokes of humor and in the style of a folktale.

The career of Samson was very different from that of the other judges. He was not the leader of the people, but an individual warrior who pursued his own interests and avenged his own injuries; and the Israelites, far from following him, actually helped the Philistines to take him on one occasion (Judges 15:913). Nor did his exploits accomplish a deliverance; it was not until many years later that the Philistine menace was removed. In fact, Samson hardly deserves a place among the judges, and his inclusion in the narrative seems merely to complete the number of twelve judges. From the style and manner of his biography it appears to have originated from other sources than the previous chapters of Judges.

A number of features in the Samson story have a mythological air, which have led some scholars to class the entire narrative as a solar myth. Thus his name is connected with shemesh, "sun"; when his hair ("the solar rays") is cut