The Origins of Israel, 1882–1948: A Documentary History

57. The Silver Platter (1947)

344 57 The Silver Platter (1947)   Poetry was a revered form of expression about many aspects of Yishuv life, particularly those associated with struggle, challenge, and loss. We saw one example of this in Nathan Alterman’s “Song of the Valley” (document 15), a paean to the pioneers and fallen heroes of the Zionist labor movement. Similarly, Alterman’s “The Silver Platter” quickly assumed an iconic status in Israel, symbolizing the courage and sacrifice of the Zionist forces in 1948, and it is probably Alterman’s best-known poem outside of Israel. In a number of sources the poem is dated to the spring of 1948, shortly after Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The poem’s pathos, power, and depiction of fateful battle appear to reflect the fledgling Israeli state’s desperate fight against the multilateral Arab invasion in May and June 1948. Yet the poem was, in fact, written several months earlier and was published just three weeks after the United Nations’ Partition Resolution of November 29, 1947. In December, the Yishuv was already engaged in numerous skirmishes with Palestinian forces, and although scholars disagree about which side was on the offensive in these battles, there was undoubtedly a great deal of anxiety within the Yishuv about its future as the British prepared to vacate the country. Moreover, Alterman’s poem reflects an ethos of martial valor and sacrifice that had been forming among the Source: First published in Davar, December 19, 1947. Translated by Derek J. Penslar. Thanks to Arieh Saposnik for translation suggestions. Yishuv’s youth for at least two decades, since the 1929 riots. Alterman’s poetry had long expressed this ethos, as in his epic poem cycle The Joy of the Poor (1941): A night of straits, a night of trial. And you, ready and experienced. I saw you desperate, I saw you armed, My brazen remnant. I saw you and understood how thin is the line Between the verge of catastrophe and the eve of jubilation.1 Yet whereas The Joy of the Poor was a complex work with a limited audience, “The Silver Platter” was published in the Yishuv’s most important newspaper and immediately taken to heart by the Zionist public. ❖ And the land grows silent. The heavens’ red eye fades on borders of smoke. And a nation will stand—torn at heart but still breathing, Accepting the miracle—one, and no other . . . It prepares for the rite. It faces the moon And stands, ere daybreak, clad in feast-day and fear. —Then from across come a lass and a lad And slowly they step towards the throng. In battle gear, shoes heavy with grime, They ascend the path, wordless . . . They did not change clothes, they did not wash away The remains of the day’s toil and the night of hot battle. Weary without end, deprived of repose, Dripping with dew drops of fresh Hebrew youth— Silently come forward And stand without moving. No sign if they’re alive or shot through Then the nation, awash in enchantment and tears Shall ask “who are you?” And the two then in silence Shall answer, We are the silver platter Upon which you will have the State of the Jews. The Silver Platter (1947) 345 Thus they speak and, wrapped in shadow, fall at its feet. And the rest will be in Israel’s annals retold . . .  1. Taken from “Leyl Ha-matsor” (Night of Siege), in Simhat Ha-’Aniyim (The Joy of the Poor) (Tel Aviv, 1957), 87. 346 :     ⁄   ...