Migdal () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the Northern District of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It was founded in 1948, and granted local council status in 1949. In it had a population of . Migdal is located near Ginosar, and about 8 km north of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

. It has a shoreline on the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

, including the Tamar, Ilanot and Arbel beaches.

History

Migdal is named after a city from the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

called "

Magdala Magdala (; ; ) was an ancient Jews, Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magdala Nunayya (), and which some historical geographers think may refer to Tarichaea (). It is belie ...

". The ancient city is believed to have been located on the site of the depopulated village of al-Majdal, which preserved the name. In 1908, a small group of German Catholics who identified the site as the birthplace of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

settled there. They left after a year and the land was bought by

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Zionists who founded a training farm, Ahuzat Moskva (Moscow Estate) in 1910. This settlement was adjacent to the Arab village al-Majdal. The pioneers were members of the

Hovevei Zion The Lovers of Zion, also ''Hovevei Zion'' () or ''Hibbat Zion'' (, ), were a variety of proto-Zionist organizations founded in 1881 in response to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire and were officially constituted as a group at a conf ...

(“Lovers of Zion”) movement, under the leadership of Moshe Glikin. They included several who became key figures in the history of Jewish settlement, among them

Joseph Trumpeldor Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (, ; , ; November 21, 1880 – March 1, 1920) was a Russian Zionist activist who helped organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to Palestine. He was killed while defending the settlem ...

and J.H. Brenner.Jacob and Eyal Horwitz Pioneers’ House and Museum
/ref> A few years later, the land was sold to private investors. An encampment of

Gdud HaAvoda The Labour Battalion or Gdud HaAvoda () was a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist work group in Mandatory Palestine. History Officially known as the Yosef Trumpeldor Labor and Defense Battalion (), Gdud HaAvoda was established on 8 August 1920 for the ...

workers who built the Tiberias-

Rosh Pinna Rosh Pinna () or Rosh Pina, is a town in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei Oni in 1878 by local Jews from Tzfat but was nearly abando ...

road was established there in 1921.''Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel'' Herzl Press and McGraw-Hill, New York 1971, Volume II, p. 784 According to a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Migdal had a population of 51 inhabitants, consisting of 42 Jews and 9 Muslims.

Landmarks

In 1998, a local history museum was founded in one of the farm’s first buildings.

Notable residents

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (; born 20 August 1974) is a Soviet-born Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor. Classic FM has called him "one of the greatest violinists in the world". Vengerov was born in Novosibirsk, the only child of Al ...

(born 1974), Russian-born Israeli

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

, violist, and conductor Image:Second aliyah Pioneers in Migdal 1912 in kuffiyeh.jpg,

Bilu Bilu may refer to: People * Bilú (footballer, 1900-1965), Virgílio Pinto de Oliveira, Brazilian football manager and former centre-back * Asher Bilu (born 1936), Australian artist * Bilú (footballer, born 1974), Luciano Lopes de Souza, Brazi ...

pioneers in Migdal, 1912 File:מגדל - פרופסור איינשטיין נוטע במגדל-JNF035524.jpeg, Migdal 1923:

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

planting tree File:מגדל - מראה כללי-JNF010497.jpeg, Migdal 1945

References

{{Authority control Local councils in Northern District (Israel) Populated places established in 1910 1910 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee German diaspora in Israel Russian-Jewish culture in Israel