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Some know Natan Alterman as an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist and translator who deeply influenced socialist zionist politics.
Others might know that his song “Kalaniot” served as a code to warn against British forces during the Mandate Period.
But few know he brought the seeds of the marmande tomato to Israel, where it was the main species cultivated in the country until the 1960s.
Host Marcela Sulak reads his poem, The Silver Platter, inspired by Chaim Weizmann’s 1947 claim: “A state is not handed to a people on a silver platter.”
Text:
The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself, Ed. Burnshaw, Carmi, etc. al.
Music:
Kalanyot – sung by Shoshana Damari, composed by Moshe Valensky
The Never-ending Rendezvous – sung by Arik Einstein, composed by Neomi Shemer
Photo: The distinctive marmande tomato.
