This could be dynamite.

[Minimalist]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-827144.html

But which Torah is the original? Until recently, the generally accepted school of thought was as follows: In the fourth century BC, the Samaritans split off as a radical sect. In the Bible, they appear as outsiders and idol worshipers; they are evil. The parable of the "good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37) offers a rather atypical portrayal of a member of this sect.

The historian Titus Flavius Josephus, himself a Jew, mentions that the apostates erected a shrine "in all haste" in the year 330 BC, as a rather dilettantish attempt to emulate the Temple in Jerusalem.

Increasingly, though, it looks as though the Bible has handed down a distorted picture of history. Papyrus scrolls recovered from Qumran on the Dead Sea, as well as a fragment of the Bible that recently surfaced on the market for antiquities, necessitate a "complete reassessment," says Schorch.

It really gets going on Page 2.

[dannan14]

Wow, that's good stuff.

[kbs2244]

Not quite a pure news story.
He lets a lot of personal opinion leak through.

But very interesting news in spite of the presentation.

[Minimalist]

Who do you mean by "he?"

[kbs2244]

Matthias Schulz the Der Spiegel writer.

There is a lot in the story that is not in quotes.
That makes it his words and opinions.

[Digit]

"It must be a wonderful place. Nobody has ever returned to make a complaint."

I love that!

Roy.

[Minimalist]

I have always admired the Jewish capacity for self-deprecating humor.

The Arabs...and a lot of xtians.... could learn something from them.

[Digit]

Yep, many of the 'Jewish' jokes I've heard over the years could be seen as anti semitic, but for the fact they were told by Jews.
To be able to laugh at your self is generally a good thing IMO.

Roy.