MAGEN
DAVID ADOM
Magen David Adom (MDA) was organized in 1930 in
Tel Aviv as a volunteer "shoestring" operation by a group of seven
Israeli doctors, as a one-room emergency medical service. A second MDA group
formed in
In
July of 1950, the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) ratified the Magen David Adom
Law, which charged MDA with responsibility for: 1) Providing auxiliary service
to Israel's Army Medical Corps in wartime, including providing emergency
medical care for the wounded and war refugees. 2) Providing civilian emergency
and medical and first-aid services and temporary shelter in emergency
situations. 3) Maintaining a blood bank for civilian use. Subsequently, MDA has
played a major role in providing vital lifesaving services during each of
MDA was founded in Tel Aviv in June
1930 as a response to the riots of 1929 which made people realize, that they
lacked first aid services to protect themselves in the face of emergencies. To
fill this urgent need, seven public spirited men set up a First Aid Society
called Magen David Adom -The Red Shield of David. MDA's first home was a shop
on the corner of Rothschild and Nahalat Benyamin Streets and its only resource
was a small van converted into an ambulance and a few dozen volunteers.
Throughout the 1930's and 1940's it was recognized by the Mandate authorities
as the 'Red Cross' society of the country and became the medical service of the
Haganah with MDA members serving as first-aiders alongside the Haganah
fighters. With the foundation of the state of
50th
anniversary of Magen David Adom
What is a Magen?
It is the shield of King David,
father of King Solomon, of the David and Goliath story fame. Archaeologists
have discovered stones and artifacts with the symbol on them.
The "Magen David" (David
shield), the six points star made of two triangles, appeared, according the
Jewish tradition on the shield of King David. According to the same tradition
the same symbols appeared also on King Solomon's ring and therefore it is also
called "Solomon Seal". This symbol was considered to have magical
powers and as a defense from the evil spirits. Such symbol without any
connection to Judaism was found in
The symbol was also considered as
magical by the Moslems (as Solomon Seal) and appeared as the symbol of
In the 15th Century the
MD was used as a trademark for Jewish printers in Prague, Amsterdam and Italy,
and in 1655 it was used on Vienna Jewish community seal and soon afterwards
also by the Jewish community in Amsterdam. In the 19th century the
MD was used almost by all Jews as their symbol and it was used for Synagogue
decoration, seals and letters. When the first Zionist groups (Bilu, Hovevei
Zion etc.) started their activities in 1881, they adopted the MD for their
symbols. The MD also appeared at the first edition of Herzl's newspaper
"Die Welt" in 1897.
Even though the MD is known as the
Jewish symbol, the Jewish people have another symbol which is the
"Menorah" which is also the emblem of the State of Israel and its
origin is already in the Bible. The emblem is based on the engraving of the
Menorah of the