Today is the final daf of Massekhet Me'ila. It considers a case where one might buy wine from Kutim, samaritans, and how tithes would be taken from it on Shabbat. Kutim include the nations that were exiled to Eretz Yisrael by the kings of Assyria who planned to repopulate that land. In II Melachim ch.17, we learn that the Kutim converted to Judaism because they were afraid of the lions that were attacking them. They were known as gerei arayot, lion converts, but they continued to worship their own gods.
When the Jews returned to Ha'Aretz at the beginning of the Second Temple period, the decendents of the Kutim (samaritans) tried to stop them from rebuilding the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem. They intermarried with each other, as well. Conflict built between the two groups and Yochanan Hyrcanus destroyed the temple that had been built on Har Gerizim. At the Bar Kocheva rebellion, however, the Kutim and the Jews worked together. Our Gemara points out that Sages had different options about the Kutim. Finally, Kutim were ruled to be non-Jews because of their continued idol worship.
In Massechet Yevamot, it is said that a bit din should not accept potential converts if they want to convert for any reason other than a sincere desire to join the Jewish people. However, once they have converted, they were considered to be Jewish by Halacha. Today, Israeli Samaritans do not worship idols. They are somewhat more accepted into the larger Jewish community.
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