Friday, May 12, 1918 49

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

The Silver Platter

(Editor's Note: Nathan Alterman was regarded as
one of the great Hebrew poets of his generation. He
also was outstanding in journalism and translation,
but was best known for his poems on current affairs,
of which this is one.)
By NATHAN ALTERMAN
"A state is not handed to a people on a silver platter."
— (Chaim Weizmann)

The earth grows still. The
lurid sky slowly pales
Over smoking borders.
Heartsick, but still living a
people stands by
To greet the uniqueness
Of the miracle.
Readied, they wait beneath the moon,
Wrapped in awesome joy, before the light.
— Then, soon,
A girl and ?ioy step forward,
And slowly walk before the waiting
nations;
In work garb and heavy-shod they climb
In stillness.
Wearing yet the dress of battle,
the grime
Of aching day and fire-filled night
Unwashed, weary unto death not
knowing rest,
But wearing youth like dewdrops in
their hair.
— Silently the two approach,
And stand.
Are they of the quick or of the dead?
Through wondering tears, the people stare.
"Who are you, the silent two?"
And they reply:
"We are the silver platter
Upon which the Jewish state was served to you."
And speaking, fall in shadow at the nation's feet.
Let the rest in Israel's chronicles be told.

Memorial to Israel s Fallen

By DAVID BEN-GURION

Let us stand silent in memory of our dearly beloved sons
and daughters who gave their lives for the liberation of our
homeland and the security of our people. They gave all they
had. They poured out their very lifeblood for the freedom of
Israel, even as the living waters quench the thirst of the
arid soil. Not in monuments of stones or trees shall be
preserved their memory, but in the reverence and pride
which will, until the end of time, fill the hearts of our people
when their memory is recalled.
• • •
Our hearts are filled to overflowing with praise and
thanksgiving to the Rock of Israel. But let us not delude
ourselves that our work is finished. We are still at the
beginning. The road stretching ahead is long and hard, and
there are still many obstacles in our way . .. The sword is
still girded round our loins; let us not boast as men who
have taken it off.
•• •
On our festive day let us review in joy and thanksgiving
the mighty deeds of the past and let us resolve to apply
ourselves with all our might and all our heart to the new
efforts of the future.

— From an address on Independence Day, May 4, 1948.

Blessed Is the Match

(Editor's Note: Hannah Senesh was born in
Budapest in 1921 and came to pre-state Israel in 1939,
joining Kibutz Sdot-Yam. In 1944 she parachuted into
Nazi-occupied Europe to help Hungarian Jewry. Cap-
tured by the Nazis, she was shot at the end of 1944. Her
remains were reinterred on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl
in 1950. This poem was written in May 1944 while she
was in Yugoslavia.)
By HANNAH SENESH
Blessed is the match that is
Consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns
In the secret fastness of the heart.
Blessed is the heart with strength
To stop its beating for honor's sake.
Blessed is the match that is
Consumed in kindling flame.

We Believe

That this desolate corner of
the East — has —
Not only a past —
But also a Future
Just as we have a future.
— Theodor Herzl

Let us ourselves rise here
and now and go up.
— (Isaiah 2:5)
It is good to die for our
country (rather than for a
foreign country).
— (Joseph Trumpeldor)

Yitzhak Navon: A Link to Jewish History

not a scientist. The retiring
President, Ephraim Kat-
zir, is a physicist. Dr. Weiz-
mann was a chemist. It had
been expected by many that
Dr. Yitzhak Shaveh, who is
also a scientist, would be
chosen.
But Navon won out.
Perhaps it is for the better.
Shaveh is a nuclear physi-
cist and perhaps it would be
said, if he had been chosen,
that Israel was planning to
drop an atom bomb or some-
thing.

By DAVID SCHWARTZ

(Copyright 1878, JTZ, Inc.)

The election of Yitzhak
Navon as President of Israel
takes us back to the days of
1492. A new world was
badly needed, persecution
had reached a new peak,
Spain had expelled the Jews
and Columbus set out from
Spain to find a new world;
the Sephardim or Spanish
Jews left at the same time to
seek new homes. Some went
to 'North Africa and the
Mediterranean countries,
others to Europe and
America.
Navon's ancestors went to
the land of the Ottomans.
The Sephardic Jews played
a not insignificant part in
the buildup of the Turkish
Empire.
It is said that they intro-
duced printing in Turkey.
They appear to have exerted
an especially strong influ-
ence in Holland. Spinoza
was a Sephardic Jew. They
were active in the Dutch
East India Co. which was
responsible for the estab-
lishment of New Amster-
dam, later known as New
York.

When the arrogant
Peter Stuyvesant sought
to deport the first Jews
arriving in New Amster-
dam, it was because of
the Sephardic influence

YITZHAK NAVON

in the Dutch East India
Co. that he was pre-
vented from carrying out
his plan. The first Jewish
synagogue in America
was the Spanish and Por-
tuguese Congregation,
Shearith Israel, estab-
lished in 1654 and still
existing. Most of the early
American Jews were
Sephardim.

It wasn't until much later
— the decade prior to the
Civil War, that there was an
immigration to America of
German Jews and later the
Russian Jews arrived.

President-elect) Navon is
unique in that he is the first
native-born Israeli to be
President — and also he is

Yitzhak Navon is a man
of letters. He has written
a number of books, one of
which deals with
Sephardi folklore. "The
Garden of the Sephar-
dim" was a musical hit in
Israel. Perhaps some
Broadway producer will
yet bring it to America.
Good musicals can do
more for world peace
than the United Nations.

you. Instead he let them
have it:
"Now remember," he told
the delegation, "you elected
me, so don't come to me later
with complaints." He told
them he was worried by
such well-wishers as a pis-
tachio nut vendor in
Jerusalem, who said to him,
"I am glad you'll be
president, but I suppose I'll
lose a customer."

We sympathize with the
pistachio nut vendor, but
maybe he won't lose a
customer. We are confi-
dent Mr. Navon will drop
around now and then for
some pistachio nuts.
They are rich in Vitamin
A.

Anyway, we like Navon's
sense of humor and mod-
esty. "I do hope," he said,
"the citizens will accept a
president who mingles with
the people and is not kept on
a pedestal."
Not too many presidents
What makes one espe-
cially happy about have the humor gift. Weiz-
President-elect Navon is mann, of course, was as
that he speaks straight from great a wit as scientist and
the shoulder. None of the he was distinguished in sci-
usual bromides. When in- ence.
formed by the Parliamen-
The name Yitzhak Navon
tary delegation of his elec- is indeed auspicious. Yit-
tion, he didn't give the cus- zhak means laughter and
tomary talk about his coun- Navon means wisdom or
try, his dedication and soon. understanding. The two go
He didn't even say thank together.

1-1ADT,Y ETTrAnw, ISMAEL

•

Fif

01" Efaiat‘VISA
W.tir
" That your days may be multiplied, and
the days of your children, in the land which
the LORD sware unto your fathers to give
them, as the daysof heaven upon the earth."

DEUTERONON1Y II : 21

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