Samaritans still slaughter Passover lambs on Mount Gerizim exactly as ancient Israelite law describes, one of the very few places in the world where that specific ancient sacrificial practice continues rather than being only described in scripture.
A sacrifice still performed, not only remembered
Each year, the Samaritan community performs an actual Passover sacrifice of lambs on Mount Gerizim, following procedures the community understands as continuous with ancient biblical practice, a literal, ongoing ritual observance that most other Abrahamic traditions long ago replaced with symbolic commemoration rather than an actual animal sacrifice.
A different holy mountain, a different text
Samaritans regard Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem, as the true biblically ordained holy mountain, a divergence reflected in the Samaritan Pentateuch, their own version of the Torah that differs from the Jewish Masoretic text at several points, including passages naming Gerizim specifically as the chosen site. An earlier Samaritan temple on the mountain was destroyed by the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus in the late second century BCE, a deliberate act against a rival claim to religious authority rather than incidental destruction.
As this entry's companion article covers
The Samaritan community's small surviving population, numbering only a few hundred people, and the deliberate practices that have kept the community and its distinct religious tradition intact despite that scale, are addressed directly in this entry's companion article rather than repeated here.