In the fields of Israel grows a beautiful and resilient red flower, poignantly called “Dam Hamaccabim”- the Blood of the Maccabees. Legend has it that everywhere a drop of blood spilled from one of these ancient Judean warriors, another flower came into being. In their deaths they commanded our land to bring forth new life.

Our being in the Land of Israel is in the merit of all those brave men and women, over the centuries, who sacrificed their lives so that our nation could live on as a sovereign People in its Biblical Homeland.

This wildflower grows only in Israel’s region, usually up in the mountains where the Maccabee battles took place. Its blossom each year is in April during the season of Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. The legend and these characteristics of the flower made it the perfect candidate for Israel’s official Memorial Flower.

The flower became popular as stamps and depicted in monuments and military graveyards throughout the country. However, as a delicate protected wildflower growing in the mountains, it was never actually worn on Yom HaZikaron. In its stead, Israelis would wear a sticker with a picture of the flower.

This changed in 2019 when a group of people founded the “Dam Hamaccabim” organization and found a way to grow these wildflowers in hothouses, and to accelerate their natural blossoming time by three months so that the flowers would be ready for distribution, in Israel and abroad, in time for Israel’s Memorial Day.

The process of drying and preserving the flowers takes approximately seven days. Once they are ready, they are formed into a decorative pin. Each flower is then individually packaged and is ready to be shipped.

These pins are sold as a fundraiser for different organizations and projects that commemorate the fallen. This year too our Oz veGaon project, that we established in memory of Gil-Ad, Eyal and Naftali hy”d who were kidnapped and murdered in 2014,  is part of it together with others.

The flower carries the message of growth from loss and the ability to always choose life. It is a constant reminder that all that blossoms and thrives in our country- is in the merit of the brave men and women who gave their lives for us, our Land, our heritage and our people.

This message of “Am Yisrael Chai in Eretz Yisrael” is also the message we pass on in Oz veGaon.

We urge you to join this beautiful initiative and order pins to wear on Yom Hazikaron.

To order pins:
https://damhamaccabim.org/order?org=622f62271ecd49a2532a4019

Payment in shekels only.