2020年经济学人 著名的拉比萨克斯勋爵(1)

Rabbi Lord Sacks, chief rabbi, broadcaster and moral philosopher, died on November 7th, aged¹ 72. Every morning he could, Jonathan Sacks pulled on his tracksuit and went out jogging. He was not called the "rapid rabbi" for nothing. Jogging, as his desk-sign reminded him, led to positive thinking. And, thanks to his noise-cancelling earphones, it brought him peace. He heard nothing as he ran but Schubert, Beethoven, or whoever it might be. Those same earphones, one of the best purchases he had ever made, also enabled him when he meditated² to hear the music of creation, the quiet voice of wisdom within it, and his response, from his spontaneous waking "Modeh Ani", "I give thanks", onwards. Otherwise, the noise was hard to lose. Every year the voices became more strident and extreme.

拉比萨克斯勋爵，首席拉比，播音员和道德哲学家，于11月7日去世，享年72岁。乔纳森·萨克斯每天早上都会穿上运动服出去慢跑。他被称为“快速拉比”不是无缘无故的。他的办公桌上的牌子提醒他，慢跑能带来积极的思考。而且，由于他的消音耳机，它给他带来了平静。他跑的时候除了舒伯特、贝多芬或其他人什么也没听到。同样的耳机，是他买过的最好的东西之一，当他冥想时也能听到创造的音乐，内心安静的智慧之声，以及从歌曲《我感谢》开始的自发苏醒的反应。否则，噪音很难消失。每年的声音都变得更加尖锐和极端。

Consumerism cried "I want! I want!" Individualism cried "Me! Me! My choices, my feelings!" until even the iPhone and iPad he used all the time vexed³ him with their "I, I, I". Society had become a cacophony⁴ of competing claims. The world gave every sign of falling apart. Even religion, his business, could be a megaphone of hate.

消费主义大喊“我要！我要！”个人主义喊着“我！我！我的选择，我的感受！”直到连他一直使用的苹果手机和iPad都用“我，我，我”来烦他。社会已经变成了相互竞争的声音。世界呈现出分崩离析的各种迹象。即使是宗教，他的生意，可能是仇恨的扩音器。

He never felt that more strongly than when he stood in January 2002 at Ground Zero in Manhattan, with the ground still smoking round him. His answer, as the leader of the Orthodox Jews of Britain and also as a moral philosopher, was to raise his own voice. Over his term of office, from 1991to 2013, he became famous both outside Judaism and outside Britain for his speeches, his lectures, including stints⁵ at New York University and Yeshiva University, his three dozen books and his three-minute sermons on BBC Radio 4's early morning "Thought for the Day".

2002年1月，当他站在曼哈顿的世贸中心时，他从未有过如此强烈的感受，他的周围仍在冒烟。作为英国东正教犹太人的领袖和道德哲学家，他的答案，就是提高自己的声音。在他的任期内，从1991年到2013年，他在犹太教和英国以外的地方都因他的演讲而出名，他的演讲，包括在纽约大学和耶希瓦大学的实习，他写了三十多本书，还有在BBC第四广播的早间节目“为今天着想”节目中的三分钟布道。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 meditated   

深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑

参考例句：

• He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
• She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。

3 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

5 stints   

n.定额工作( stint的名词复数 )；定量；限额；慷慨地做某事

参考例句：

• He stints himself in [of] sleep. 他节制睡眠。 来自辞典例句
• She never stints herself of money to buy books for her children. 她从不吝惜掏钱让子女们买书。 来自互联网