The Woman from Magdala

By D.M. Norman

The story is about Mary Magdalen, a repentant sinner, who sets out on a “quest” for a husband following the death of her parents.

Her quest continues after being seduced by her cousin David, on his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, the night Jesus is born in far-off Bethlehem.

Mary then becomes involved as a concubine, a sex-slave, adultery, a lover and a mistress.

She is present at the baptism of Christ, Cana, the beheading of John the Baptist, the woman caught in adultery at the Temple in Jerusalem and at the Mount of Olives where she hears Jeshua instruct people gathered there.

Mary finds her long-sought-after spouse at her death, when she is united with her Eternal Bridegroom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: May 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483410920

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T he census which was proclaimed by Emperor Caesar Augustus in the twenty-seventh year of his reign in Rome, when Quirinius was governor of Syria ; when Judea was incorporated into the Roman province, following the banishment of Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great, came as no surprise to the people of Samaria, Judea and Idumea – especially us Jews.

Throughout our history, a census has been taken at regular intervals in time.

The census was taken to count the population ; to obtain relevant information about people ; to determine the number of able bodied men, this for the construction of temples, civil edifices, dams and for recruitment in armies. Most important of all, the census was taken to fill the coffers of the treasury with taxes.

Jews can look back in history to the time of their departure or exodus from Egypt, when the gold and silver used to adorn the sanctuary of the Temple was paid by shekels received from every man of twenty years or more, who was registered in a group.

Jews can look also to the time of Moses when, in his tent in the deserts of Sinai, he was commanded by God to take a census of the whole Israelite Community. This was to be done by clan and by ancestral house. Each male was to be registered individually.

Every man of twenty years or more, fit for military service, was to be registered.

Scripture records further for Jews, the census David ordered his generals to take in the land, from Beer-Sheba to Dan – the city which marked the northern limit of Palestine.

However, because of a willful disregard of David’s plan by one of his underlings, God’s wrath was brought to bear upon his people, and seventy thousand men died following a plague.

Jews can look then to Solomon, the son of King David, for more organizing of Israelites.

King Solomon, at that time, conscripted thirty thousand workmen from all of Israel to go to the high wooded areas of Lebanon where its mountains abound with cedar trees.

Large blocks of stone were carved out of the mountains ; cedar wood was prepared by workers, as well as wood from fir trees. All of these – stone blocks, cedar wood and fir – were used in the building of the Temple.

Again, as Jews, we can look back to the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem and Judah.

More than forty thousand individuals – priests, levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple slaves and their descendants, as well as, hundreds of horses, donkeys and camels – returned, each to his house and tribe.

Freewill offerings from this throng of people were made – each according to his ability – to rebuild the house of God : the Temple.

As I look back over the past thirty years, to the time of the census decreed by Caesar Augustus, to our little town of Migdal-El. – the so-called tower or fortress, in the lore of its history – at the time when I was but a young woman of fifteen, a lifetime of changes runs through my mind.

Migdal-El was its name at the long-gone-by time of Joshua, when it was one of the cities and villages which were the heritage in the division of the land for the clans and tribes of the people of Naphtali.

When I was born, the town of Migdal-El was called Magdala. I knew it as Magdala throughout my youth. Magdala it was known as, throughout the years and throughout the land.

Magdala has a rich history. Because of its location, nestled on mountain slopes by the Sea of Galilee, and its nearness to the city of Tiberias which has always been a center of activity, Magdala was a town of importance.

Benjamin, my father, the Rabbi and repairer of fishing nets, always used to say of Magdala, There is no better place on Earth.

Of course, he was biased. He thought in the superlative about many things, if not about everything. It was his nature.

The caverns in the mountains not far from our little city were used as a hideaway by robber bands and brigands at the time of Herod.

Some time later, these same caves were used by hermits.

Our little town of Magdala was a wealthy town. Fishing was its main business.

Capernaum, five miles or less to the north, was also a fishing town. Both towns were always in competition for business. Some days, at different times of the year, one or the other of these towns overstocked the markets with fish. It was an ongoing endeavor.

David, my cousin on my father’s side, who was a little older than I, was a fisherman of the Magdala fishing fleets.

Some day, bubaleh, my little doll, David, my cousin, said to me, at the time of Caesar’s census, I will bring you to the shores of the water and to the fishing boats … I promise, I will take you there.

As I was only a young girl of fifteen years of age, and had not ventured far from our town without the supervision of my parents, I looked forward to the visit by the sea with David, my cousin.

David was always nice to me. We were playmates, and with our cousins Yona, Deborah, Seth and little Ben, of my mother’s lineage, we would play games in the courtyard or on the nearby slopes of the mountain.

David always had a liking for me.

As I look back to that time of my youth, I cannot help but think about my father, Benjamin, the Rabbi and repairer of fishing nets … may his soul rest in peace.

As a Rabbi, he taught me so many things, as did Sarah, my mother … may her soul rest in peace also.

Benjamin, my father, was a hard worker. He would stop at nothing to get the work done. This, in his role as a Rabbi or in his work of repairing fishing nets.

How often he quoted from the Book of Proverbs on the matter of idleness: Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep ; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. This has stayed with me these many years passed. His work ethic as a Rabbi has been a light in my life. It has always helped me accomplish what I wanted done. His work in the fishing industry bore the same imprint and integrity.

I remember the day my father brought me with him to his work by the sea as a fishing net repairman. It was a special day in my life as a young woman. I had become of age according to the Law. I had become a daughter of the commandment.

As he worked on a net close to the water, with fishing boats bobbing with the flow of ripples in the sea, with the smell of sea air purified by a welcome breeze filling the day, a friend of his joined my father and began to work repairing a torn net.

I sat in one of the nearby boats splashing water around with my hands. Every once in a while I scanned the water for the sign of any living thing.

Now and then I moved to another place in the boat to sit in the shade of the sail, hoping for another cool sea breeze.

I could hear the men whenever they spoke.

Benjamin, my father, had mentioned this man on several occasions.

Simon bar Jonas was his name. He was from Bethsaida by birth, but now made his home in Capernaum. He was a fisherman and worked at repairing nets in his home town. He also worked at repairing nets in our town of Magdala.

He too was an industrious and hard working man … as hard working and as diligent as my father.

Simon owned his own fishing boat. Few men in the area owned their boat. Simon was one of them. He also was a partner with Zebedee, a fisherman in Capernaum, who with his sons James and John, had a fleet of fishing boats. Zebedee was a man of influence and much respected in that village. Together, Simon and Zebedee made a good living in the fishing industry.

Benjamin, Simon said to my father after they had worked for a while on some nets, I have a proposition to make to you.

A proposition? my father asked, as a frown creased his brow. He had known Simon for some time, and was aware that when Simon said something, he meant it.

Simon was a man of character. Even though he had his weaknesses and flaws, was impetuous and hot-tempered – even fearful at times – he was a man with leadership abilities. He had the insight to grasp things in an instant. When he said something, he would follow through with it.

What kind of proposition? my father asked, following his reaction. What are you up to now Simon? he probed further, not knowing what Simon had in mind. What kind of proposition are you talking about, and how does it involve me? my father queried.

Well Benjamin, my old friend, it’s like this, Simon said to my father, not missing a motion nor strand of hemp in the repair of the net he was working on.

I lolled about in the shade ot the sail of the boat I was in. I thanked God for the occasional sea breeze that made my life more enjoyable. Now and then, the sound of a gull overhead, looking for some fish to pounce on, could be heard. It was a relaxing afternoon and I let it penetrate every pore in my body.

Simon was rash at times, according to my father. He liked to discuss things and debate serious matters but, sometimes would miss the point completely.

They often got involved in discussions about God and about religion. It was a popular subject of the times –with the varied worship of those who believed in many gods and the anxious expectations of Jewish thought and belief in the One God Almighty, and especially in the anticipation of a promised Mashiah – the Messiah – which seemed imminent : a King from the line of David, spoken of in the books of the Law.

These discussions came up often over the repair of torn fishing nets by the waters of the Sea of Galilee.

Benjamin, the Rabbi and my father, mentioned it on many occasions over an evening meal. This could be sparked by some incidental happening or a reference made in the synagogue of which my father, Benjamin, was the teacher.

His respect and reputation here, in the synagogue, as elsewhere, was founded on his learning, on his character and on his qualities as a man.

Benjamin, my good friend, Simon said to my father, prefacing his proposition, I want to start a fleet of fishing boats here in Magdala, Simon began. I need a good man as a partner, he added, emphasizing the word ‘partner.’

My father looked up at Simon. His hand held in mid air with the cordage of hemp he was about to loop in the tear of the net.

A partner? he said in a sing-song way as he spoke the question.

Simon nodded his head up and down several times. Yes, Benjamin, Simon went on in a most inviting tone of voice. It was as if he was speaking to his brother and asking him for a special favor.

I need a good man, Simon went on, and after a short pause, elaborated on the matter. A good man … a man I can trust. My fleet in Capernaum can manage itself without me … I can always look in on how the men are doing now and then … they are a good group … But here … here in Magdala, I’d like to start something new … I’d like to expand the business … the market is growing everywhere … I think it’s a good time to expand … but, for that, I need a good man, a good honest man like you Benjamin … a man I would trust with my very life.

Simon took a deep breath and he looked hopefully at my father.

The strand of hemp in my father’s hand was pulled tight in the tear of the net. There was a short pause. My father’s head turned to one side as if he were looking for thinking space.

Simon prodded further with his proposition. Benjamin, he went on, I need you for this new business. I need you as a partner … a partner and a brother in this new business.

His tone of voice was imploring. He was nearly begging.

What do you say Benjamin? What do you think of my proposition? I know we could make this thing work together!

My father’s head moved slowly up and down again as if to say Yes but his mind, it was evident, was somewhere else. He was serious about the matter, but something was preventing him from voicing an answer. Something was on his mind. Words were there. They just would not materialize.

At last he looked up at Simon. His expression was sympathetic.

For a moment then, when Simon looked at him, the man from Capernaum appeared to know that he had made his case and that he would have this man he considered a brother as a partner in this new endeavor in the fishing industry in Magdala.

My father took a deep breath. He inhaled the fresh breeze that was skimming the waters of the Sea of Galilee.

Another gull was heard overhead. It was looking for its prey and meal. Shadows got longer as the sun lay just above the horizon of the mountain.

My father shrugged his shoulders. Simon, my friend, he said in a barely audible voice. Simon, my dearest friend … Simon, you who I also consider a brother … I would like above all else to accept your proposition and be your partner in this fishing business … this fishing business that would be ours. I know that it would be good. You are right, Simon, now is a good time to expand. He took another deep breath of sea air.

However my dear friend, my father went on breathing in more sea air. When he exhaled, it came out as a deep sigh – an indication of his disappointment.

I simply cannot accept your proposition … I want to accept it, Simon, but I can’t. The reason, my dear friend Simon, that I cannot accept your proposition is that my Sarah, my wife, is very ill and I have to be there when she needs me … and that is often … too often for me to take on any commitment which I could not honestly do justice to.

The statement my father made to Simon was evidence of his character as a human being. If he could not give his everything to what he was involved in, he would not get involved in it at all.

My mother was very ill. The matter was serious but there was nothing anyone could do for her. My father also was in failing health. He never spoke much about it. He just did what he had to do, as best he could. That may also be one of the reasons he declined Simon’s invitation and proposition about the new venture in the fishing industry in Magdala.

Simon understood what my father had said.

Both men accepted the situation and remained best of friends.

I understand Benjamin, Simon said to my father. I would like it to be otherwise, but it just won’t be. I am saddened, but, I understand. As the Good Book tells us my friend, ‘Look out for the path that your feet must take, and your ways will be secure.’

The sun had dropped behind the mountains. The day’s work for my father was done. We headed for home. When we got there, the meal my mother had prepared for us was ready, but she lay resting on her mat in the corner of the room.

My father went to her and covered her with a woolen mantle.

As I sit here now, from this vantage point on the outskirts of the city, looking at my birthplace of Magdala, I see the many changes that have taken place over these thirty long years.

The city has expanded. It has spread onto the plains. It has gotten nearer to Capernaum. The growing population has made that happen.

The growth has evidently been good for the city. It has been good for business.

It has been good for tradesmen, from carpenter to boat builder ; from tailor to dyer – I have heard of Lydia, the woman from Philippi who is a seller of purple fabrics, whose renown has spread throughout the land, and who does well with her textiles and the mollusks she uses to make her dyes. Business has been good for the potter. It has been good for the embalmer!

It has been good also for rabbis. I noticed the building of new synagogues on my short visit to town a little while ago. It most certainly has been good for the tax-collector.

Taxes! The very word makes me cringe and shake all over. It is a pity! It is the same everywhere I go.

As Jews, in a country rightfully ours, yet occupied by foreigners from Rome, it is no wonder that we are all infuriated with this heavy tax burden. We are taxed by Rome. We are taxed by our own people in the Temple! The system needs to be changed but no one does anything about it!

What is more aggravating for all of us, without exception, is that our own people – the tax-farmers, the publicans of our day – not only work for the enemy in collecting taxes for them and help fill the coffers of the Empire, but they rob their own people. They rob us – all of us Jews who are trying to make a living and to survive! They overcharge us and so make a fortune on the backs of their own kind. A plague be on them!

Magdala has grown … yes! The Empire has grown … again, yes!

Palaces have been built in Caesarea by the Great Sea. There the governor stays for fear of any uprisings in Jerusalem, the City of David.

Uprisings are feared not only in Jerusalem by rebellious Jews – and there are many so infuriated people in the unruly population – but throughout the land. These uprisings are common and are likely to erupt, at the least provocation, more and more now …

Jerusalem has remained the capital of Herod’s kingdom throughout his long reign.

However, even though he embellished the capital with extravagant and expensive buildings, at his death, his son Archelaus, became ruler of a disastrous governorship.

Following complaints to Rome by a delegation of unhappy Jews and Samaritans who were under his rule, this son of Herod was deposed for inefficiency and was exiled.

And so have the politics of the Empire developed over these thirty years!

Growth has happened. Taxes have made it happen. Taxes are the leeches of the Empire which drain the life blood of the plebeians – the middle class of society, the ordinary people!

There is no end to it. So we live with it! … what else to do but to revolt? … and that’s what many are doing … and, they are dying for it!

Tiberias, the great city, less than four miles south from Magdala was built by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. When it was finished, Herod proclaimed, I will make Tiberias my capital city.

Sepphoris had been the capital city until then … And Antipas did exactly that. He made Tiberias his capital city.

Tiberias is a good example of what can be done with taxes. It was extravagant!

Unfortunately for Herod Antipas, because the site had been used as a cemetery, it was unclean in the eyes of Jews, and, for the most part, they did not frequent or settle the city. Herod had to find other means to populate his city by the Sea.

He had to further the growth of Tiberias with foreigners, beggars and adventurers – which was not difficult to do as the area offered natural hot springs – and others, who were not aware of its secrets or, just did not care about its past, one way or another.

I exclude myself from the group of Jews who would not go to the city.

Its magnificent baths with ornate mosaic walls depicting mankind in all of its nakedness and in some of its basest depravities, was not of much help to me. The Great City whch bore the name of its detested and loathed Emperor, did not enable me find what I sought.

The city was not a total loss for me however. It had several synagogues where, as Jews, we could, and often did go and repent for our sins, other than on the Day of Atonement when the high priest is allowed entry into the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. This he does on our behalf. There, a sin offering is made by him for us.

Not long after, in the years that followed, Tiberias by the Sea, with its alluring sulphur hot springs, could boast that a majority of its population was Jewish.

This is further proof that minds and attitudes of people change over the years. There is no law for whatever is necessary.

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W hen Herod died, in spite of what he had accomplished during his reign as king – the construction of new cities throughout the Empire ; the enlarging of existing ones ; building gymnasiums, aqueducts, amphitheaters, public baths, gardens and racing stadiums ; the building of more pagan temples ; how he transformed even Jerusalem with the building of a magnificent palace and gardens there too ; fortifications, the Antonia palace-fortress named in honor of Marc Anthony, the soldier who was instrumental in quelling a great rebellion in the Holy City ; new buildings of note and a spectacular temple complex, hoping to win the favor and the wavering loyalty of the Jews, which, in the end, never did become a reality – not much improved for the Jews nor for the rulers of the realm: the Romans .

Conditions remained much the same. Rebellions erupted and had to be controlled. Soldiers were nervous and were always on guard in their impressive and intimidating red uniforms, plumed helmets and menacing military apparel.

Jews were unhappy with their lot and their status of servitude in life, in a land they considered their own.

Crucifixion was the order of the day for many infractions of the law. This was the typical and extreme penalty. It was used as retribution against rabble rousers and revolutionaries against Rome – against those deemed a danger to the values of the establishment. It was reserved for so-called bandits. It was the penalty administered most often to slaves.

Crucifixion was shameful. On some days, major roads were lined with hoardes of the condemned, hanging on the makeshift trees of death. Each of the crucified at a varying degree of death, as this manner of dying might take days.

Over the head of the crucified, affixed to the wood of the cross, a notice of the crime committed by the condemned was placed. Most often, the crime did not warrant this severe form of punishment.

Adding to the shame of this infamous manner of death, were the uncalled-for jeers of passersby along the public thoroughfares, inflamed by the frailties of humanity and the unexplainable innate hatred and callousness of fallen man.

Prior to this manner of horrible death, the prisoner was scourged with a lash.

The situation definitely did not improve when Herod died.

I was about nineteen years old at the time, and I remember it well.

The province went through several procurators – government representatives of the Roman empire in Palestine – all to the detriment of its subjects, of its slaves and in many cases, of its citizens.

Rome was always a yoke that galled the Jews. Rome and the world, as I knew it then, was on an uninterrupted path to decadence.

I was one of its reluctant pilgrims making the journey. There seemed to be no byway or path without the gutter of life I found myself in. I was in need of healing. I did not know where to turn.

My thoughts then went back to the teachings of my mother Sarah. In despair and hopelessness she had always said, among many other wise things to do in instances like this, to turn to Scripture …

My mother was a wise woman. I decided to rely on her wisdom.

I turned, in my mind, to the prophet Jeremiah. There I found consolation in the words of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, in the words of his prophet : … I will set my law within them and write it on their hearts ; I will become their God and they shall become my people.

Hope sprang up in my heart, for God establishes his people in hope. My mind went from the subconscious to the conscious. Sanity came to life from the edge of insanity and spiritual death. For an instant, life itself was renewed in my body and in my soul.

The last thoughts of Jeremiah’s that came to me, as in a flash of renewed hope, were what momentarily sparked my fleeting hope : … all of them, high and low alike, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and remember their sin no more.

There was hope in these words of Jeremiah.

The truth was that all of our motives, as humans, are hope and fear. Hope in something or someone that will better our lives ; fear of something or someone that we know to be beyond our mortal frailty and power.

This brings me to think about El Shaddai : God Almighty. God is on my mind. God is in my heart. God moves my soul. God is part of my very being. I am his.

This, I am convinced, because of my mother’s teaching about the Holy One throughout my early years …

Mama, how I thank you for this teaching. I know I have strayed throughout these many years. I have strayed from God’s Law. The Law you taught me. That I admit. Yet, I have not abandoned him. I constantly seek him. My heart yearns for him. In him, I know there is righteousness of life and of living. In him there is peace of mind. There is peace of soul. There is peace of heart.

Here again Mama, in your teaching of the Good Book to me, I find consolation : … the Lord is with you when you are with him … if you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you,

The Good Book is saying to all of us Mama, through the voice of the Lord : … seek me and live. This I believe.

Mama, the idea of belief in God is in all of mankind. Everyone is seeking that truth, in some way or other. This I do believe.

Our rulers seem to have found a way to diminish the fear I mentioned earlier – the fear of a power beyond that of man.

The Romans and many like them believe that there are many gods, unlike us Jews who believe that there is but One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob … the God who spoke to mankind through the voice of Moses and the prophets.

And yet, as I look back on our history Mama, I see that we too have been guilty of this offense against the True God – guilty many times.

The True God, it seems, saw what kind of people we could become after Adam, and he gave a command to us through Moses on Sinai : you shall not have other gods besides me.

Even then Mama, as wayward individuals, we turned our backs on God. Moses came down from the mountain and the people were adoring a golden calf … for shame!

For shame again Mama … for shame! Yet, that’s the way it was. That’s the way it still is. Humans worship anything and everything. They worship these things as if they were the True God. Their motive should I question? … As a Jew, perhaps I should … Rather, I will leave that up to the True God.

Worshipping things as gods is not new. People have made gods out of mountains, blocks of stone, trees and springs.

This I have seen on my travels throughout the land from north to south and from east to west. And, I have heard of this being done in many other countries.

In some lands, they worship animals as their god. In Egypt they worship the river Nile. The sun, they worship also.

Here Mama, what can I say about the roots of our ancestry? One of the synagogues in Hammath Tiberias, the city on the Sea of Galilee I mentioned earlier, named in honor of Tiberius, the emperor after Augustus Caesar bears witness to it. There is evidence of idol worship … And this is a synagogue?

The mosaic in that synagogue Mama, shows the ark of the Torah. The ark is guarded on each side by two lighted menorahs. Mama, the centerpiece of this mosaic shows the pagan sun god. Around this image are signs of the zodiac! A synagogue?

How close to idolatry is this? Is this some secret reminder of our past? Are we to look to the stars and to heavenly bodies as rulers of mankind? That is making a god out of something that is not the True God. And what about, … you shall not have other gods besides me?

What would Moses say to this Mama? I wonder. Idolatry, for which God gave mankind a commandment against, is what