The Bloom of Red Flowers
The anemone or calanit is a red flower indigenous to Israel that is one of the first to bloom. Its appearance in the south is one of the harbingers of Tu Bishvat, the celebration of a new year for trees and flowers and fruits, this year beginning this Wednesday night.
This Tu Bishvat, however, I have been thinking of a different red flower even though it doesn’t bloom for several months. This flower, known as Dam Hamacabim or Blood of the Maccabees is associated with Yom Hazikaron. On that Day of Memorial pictures of Dam Hamacabim with the word yizkor - Remember - are ubiquitous. Ubiquitous too are those who mourn the death of loved ones who have fallen in battle, to terrorism, and during their military service in defense of the State of Israel. The Blood of the Macabees bears a name reminiscent of another time, another war for survival and the price paid.
A mixture of myth and poetry declaims that wherever a drop of blood is spilled a red flower such as these is found in its place. By the time this year’s red calaniot were seen in the south, the land already had bloomed in blood red. Over 200 soldiers have been killed in the war against Hamas and in the North, 21 in one catastrophe earlier this week. So many precious flowers plucked early and set aside for the Day of Memorial.
Tu Bishvat is not the time when most fruits and flowers are ready to break through again. Still, this winter day is chosen for celebration because it is the time in which the sap begins to rise in the trees, ready for the spring to come. Today we pray that even as so much blood is spilled and swallowed in this brutal war, peace is rising up through the roots ready to bring forth new growth. That by the time we take out the Dam Hamacabim in the spring we will long have stopped spilling the blood that they symbolize. That they will simply be flowers to grieve with and the world will fill again with many more blooms and colors, the fruits and fragrances of peace.
May the memories of those slain in battle be remembered and their lives honored. May the hostages be brought home quickly in wellbeing of body and soul. May each precious and vulnerable life be protected from rampage and violence. May peace bloom in all gardens so that we may lie down and not be terrified.