A Bronx teacher who lost his life in Gaza will be remembered in a special way by his students on Yom Kazikaron, Ynet reports.

Yossi Hershkovitz, 44, was a reserve soldier killed in November after a Hamas terrorist detonated a charge in a tunnel shaft next to a mosque in Beit Hanoun. Three other soldiers from the 551st Brigade also died in the attack. Prior to serving as the principal of the Pelech Boys School in Jerusalem, Yossi had taught at the SAR Jewish school in the Riverdale neighborhood of New York City.

In honor of his memory and for all of Israel’s fallen soldiers on Yom Hazikaron, administrators at the SAR school purchased 500 commemorative pins made from the “Dam Hamaccabim” or “Blood of the Maccabees” flower – a red everlasting flower that has become a symbol of Israel’s Remembrance Day.  These special flower pins will be worn by Pelech school students this Monday in solemn memory of their mutual former teacher and hero.

“Their initiative deeply moved me. Both schools were part of Yossi’s life, and his legacy continues to resonate in both,” Yossi’s widow told Ynet. “Yossi was very important to the students, an Israeli figure who they looked up to.

“Yossi believed that Israel’s future lies in education. He had the ability to see every student and professional on an equal footing. He was a trailblazer, a visionary, who rushed to get things done – he did exactly what he said. He had a lot of plans and dreams for the future, which were cut off in a moment,” she said.