Hanging in our basement, next to a Lego model of the Apollo 11 lunar lander, is the front page of a Chicago Tribune, dated July 21, 1969. The headline: €œGIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.€ Last year, the United States celebrated 50 years since that incredible day when Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface and announced, €œThat€™s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.€

Having majored in journalism, I collect famous front pages of newspapers. But if someone were to ask me what was the greatest news headline ever, I wouldn€™t say the moon landing€¦or the victory over Germany in World War II€¦or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

If someone asked me what the greatest headline of all time might be, I€™d go with the news delivered by Mary Magdalene.

Okay, so Mary Magdalene wasn€™t a reporter in the traditional sense. She didn€™t work for a major news organization, and she didn€™t make a living as a first-century journalist. But let€™s face it, there weren€™t any news organizations in Israel at the time. In Rome, news was announced on posted notices or proclaimed orally by criers of sorts.

I pick Mary Magdalene€™s announcement because she declared that Jesus had risen€”the greatest news scoop in the history of world. In fact, Mary Magdalene was also the first person in the world to speak with the risen Lord, which is why some call her the First Herald of the Risen Lord.

Not bad for a woman who was once controlled by seven demons. She came a long way.

Mary Magdalene has gotten a bum rap over the years. For two thousand years, rumors and stories about Mary Magdalene have run rampant. But here€™s what we know about her from the Bible:

• She was delivered from seven demons. (Luke 8:2-3)
• She stood at a distance and watched Jesus die on the cross. (Mark 15:40)
• Accompanied by Salome and Mary the mother of James, she brought spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus€™s body, but they found an empty tomb and an angel instead. (Mark 16)
• She ran like the wind to the disciples€™ house to report that Jesus had risen. (John 20:1-2)
• She ran back to the tomb with Peter and the €œother disciple.€ After the two men left, she lingered behind, weeping. That€™s when she saw and talked with the risen Jesus. (John 20:3-18)

Saint Peter’s fish, a tilapia, is a common dish along the Sea of Galilee.

She is known as Mary Magdalene because she came from the city of Magdala, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and nestled at the foot of Mount Arbel. Some scholars connect Magdala to an ancient village known as Taricheae, which means €œthe place of salted fish.€

Magdala was all about the fish. The area still is very fishy today, as my wife, Nancy, and I discovered when we dined near Magdala. For the first time in my life, I ate a fish that could wink at me. The fish kept its eye on me the entire meal. The Sea of Galilee is famous for its tilapia, known as Saint Peter€™s fish, so Nancy and I savored this delicious meal, although I lost the staring contest with my food.

The Magdala stone may have been the base of a podium used to read the Torah from in synagogues.

Strolling through the archaeological ruins of Magdala, we saw the remains of a synagogue that Jesus had most likely been to€”a synagogue with the remains of a gorgeous mosaic floor. We also saw the famous Magdala stone, a block of engraved stone that is believed to have served as the base for a reading table, from which the Torah scrolls were read..

The Magdala archaeological site is known for several wonderfully preserved mikvehs, a short series of steps leading into a small ritual pool€”a holy swimming pool you might say. Many laws governed the construction of a mikveh, which men and women used to become ritually purified.

This mikveh in Magdala was once used for purification rituals.

For instance, the water had to be deep enough to completely immerse a person€™s body, and the water must come from a natural source, such as a spring. Every part of your body, including the hair, must become saturated with water. This sparked some controversy about whether you should immerse yourself when your hair is still braided. Some believe you must comb out your hair before immersing yourself in a mikveh, so that every strand gets wet.

Which brings us back to Mary Magdalene.

The Bible says nothing about Mary using a mikveh for purification. But it does make clear that Mary was spiritually purified when she was delivered from seven demons.

Jesus purified her life, and He didn€™t need a mikveh to do it.

Jesus constantly rebuked the Pharisees for being more concerned about cleansing the outside, ignoring the spiritual cleansing from within. In Luke 11:37-41, Jesus dined with Pharisees, who criticized him for not washing his hands first. He shot back that €œyou Pharisees€ are more concerned about cleaning the outside of the body than cleaning the inside, which is full of €œgreed and wickedness.€

Mary Magdalene probably knew from experience that being cleansed from the inside is vastly more important. This isn€™t to knock the mikveh. It€™s still a poignant ritual, as long as you understand that an inner purification goes deeper. After her purification from demons, Mary Magdalene€™s life changed forever. She followed the Nazarene all the way to the foot of the cross and then to an empty tomb.

At first, Mary didn€™t recognize the risen Jesus outside of the tomb. Maybe she had her head down because she was weeping. Or maybe her eyes were too filled with tears to focus. But when Jesus said her name, €œMary,€ the Book of John says she turned to look at him and cried out, €œRabboni!€€”which means €œteacher.€

Mary swiftly carried this news to the disciples. €œI have seen the Lord!€ she shouted.

So, there€™s your news headline€”the greatest headline in history. I HAVE SEEN THE LORD! The moon landing headline pales in comparison. When Mary ran to the disciples carrying this glorious news, you might even say, €œThat€™s many small steps for a woman. One giant leap for mankind.€

Also€¦one giant leap for womankind. Mary Magdalene reminds us of that.

By Doug Peterson

Mount Arbel

Coordinates: 32°49′28″N 35°30′00″E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Mount Arbel
Highest point
Elevation	181 m (594 ft)[1]
Listing	World Heritage Sites in Israel
Coordinates	32°49′28″N 35°30′00″E[1]
Geography
Mount Arbel   Show map of IsraelShow map of Northeast IsraelShow all
Country	Israel

Mount Arbel (Hebrew: הר ארבל, Har Arbel) is a mountain in The Lower Galilee near Tiberias in Israel, with high cliffs, views of Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights, a cave-fortress, and ruins of an ancient synagogue. Mount Arbel sits across from Mount Nitai; their cliffs were created as a result of the geological processes leading to the creation of the Jordan Rift Valley.

There are four villages on the mountain: Kfar Zeitim, Arbel, Kfar Hittim, and Mitzpa. The peak, at 181 metres above sea level (380 metres above the surrounding area), dominates the surroundings (much of the area is below sea level), and from the lookout atop the mountain, almost all of the Galilee is visible including Safed, as well as Tiberias and most of the Sea of Galilee, and the slopes of the Golan Heights on the other side of the Sea.

History[edit]

Dug into the mountain are a number of documented Jewish cliff dwellings, expanded from natural caves, dating back to the Second Temple period. The inhabitants built ritual baths and water cisterns. At different times, the caves were fortified and connected by an internal staircase. Some Jews also lived in houses built on top of the mountain.^[2][3]

Hellenistic period[edit]

In 161 BCE "Arbela" was the site of a battle between the supporters of the Maccabees and Seleucid general Bacchides, who defeated and killed his opponents (1 Macc. 9:2).^[4] Josephus mentions in his Antiquities that the Greek general captured the many people who had taken refuge in the caves at Arbela.^[5]

Roman period[edit]

In 38 BCE, we are told by Josephus, partisans of Antigonus fighting against Herod who was conquering the land with Roman support, were either killed in their cave hideouts or committed suicide.^[4][6][7]

It is also Josephus who, writing about himself in the third person, tells us how he fortified the caves and used them as storage base at the beginning of the First Jewish–Roman War in the year 66 CE, when he was in charge of the defense of Galilee:

"Moreover, he [Josephus] built walls about the caves near the lake of Gennesar, which places lay in the lower Galilee".^[8][6]

Late Roman and Byzantine period: the Arbel synagogue[edit]

Arbel ancient synagogue

Nearby are the ruins of an ancient Jewish settlement with a synagogue, built in the 4th, rebuilt in the 6th and kept in use until the 8th century CE.

Ottoman period[edit]

The cave system was finally refortified into a cave castle by Ali Beg, the son of 17th-century Druze ruler, emir Fakhr ad-Din al-Maani.^[6][3] Because Ali Beg belonged to the Maan dynasty, his castle was called Qal'at Ibn Maan, the "fortress of the son of Ma'an" by locals.^[6]

Nature reserve and national park[edit]

The area was declared a nature reserve in 1967, covering 1400 dunams.^[9] The national park (8509 dunams) includes most of Nahal Arbel, that begins near Eilabun and empties into the Sea of Galilee near Migdal. The reserve covers the immediate area around the cliff.^[10]

Mount Arbel (left), the valley of Wadi Hamam, and Mount Nitai (right) seen from across the Sea of Galilee

On the south side of the cliff, there is a gradual prolonged climb through agricultural and pasture land and from the peak there is a steep 400 meters drop. From here there are metal handholds driven into the rock to aid those who want to make the climb down to the valley below. Below that are a series of switchbacks that eventually lead to the Bedouin village of Hamaam.

Mount Arbel, with its 110-metre vertical drop, is the only known mountain in Israel to serve as a base jumping site.^[11] A hike to the top of Mount Arbel from the south is included in the Israel National Trail, and an approach from the west is part of the Jesus Trail; the trails converge temporarily at the peak.

Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from the Mountain