美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why many Jews in the U.S. are conflicted about publicly celebrating Hanukkah

Why many Jews in the U.S. are conflicted about publicly celebrating Hanukkah

Transcript¹

With rising anti-Semitism, many American Jews are conflicted about whether to publicly celebrate Hanukkah. (Story aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on Dec. 18, 2022.)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Hanukkah began last night. The Talmud directs Jews to not just celebrate the holiday but to do it publicly, placing their menorahs where passersby² can see the lights. As Deena Prichep reports, with a rise in antisemitism, some American Jews are conflicted about making their identities so public.

DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE³: Every Hanukkah, Beth Richman sets up her electric menorah in the kitchen window of her Portland home.

BETH RICHMAN: It's very '70s. And it's kind of faux silver. It's plastic. And it has these blue- and white-tipped light bulbs.

PRICHEP: Give the candles a twist, and they light up for everyone to see. It's kitschy and sweet and fills the window with light. But in recent years...

RICHMAN: You know, the Proud Boys marched through this neighborhood. So having a menorah does feel riskier⁴, absolutely. And this year, with what's happening on the global stage with Twitter deregulating, it's frightening. It's a frightening time.

JACOB ARI LABENDZ: It seems that right now, I think quite understandably, much of the American Jewish community is concerned about what seems to be rising currents of antisemitism.

PRICHEP: Jacob Ari Labendz directs the Gross Center for Holocaust⁵ and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College. What counts as antisemitism can be debated. But the Anti-Defamation League counted the highest number of antisemitic incidents ever last year and says this year looks on track to be the same.

LABENDZ: Shortly after the Holocaust, there's been a bipartisan commitment to anti-antisemitism in this country. It didn't mean that people didn't have misgivings⁶ about Jews, that they weren't ambivalent⁷ about Jews, but it meant that in polite society, we were committed to seeing Jews as fully⁸ American.

PRICHEP: And Labendz is worried that may be changing.

LABENDZ: I am concerned, more broadly than white nationalism, about the rise and the normalization⁹ of and the mainstreaming of a certain fascist¹⁰ politics, a certain doubt in democracy, a certain closing in of the borders around who is in and who is out. Having said that, it's hard to judge just how bad things are when Jews expect things to be excellent in America.

PRICHEP: There is a phrase in the Talmud - pirsumei nisa - that tells Jews to publicize the miracle. It refers to Hanukkah, and also Passover and Purim. David Shyovitz teaches Jewish history at Northwestern. He says those three holidays were chosen for a reason.

DAVID SHYOVITZ: These are stories where Jewish visibility, where Jewish difference from the surrounding culture is causing problems and leads to threats.

PRICHEP: And there have been many times when celebrating those stories would not have been safe, whether you're talking about the Spanish Inquisition or Nazi¹¹ Germany. But Shyovitz says it could also serve as a human moment and show people who their neighbors are.

SHYOVITZ: Jewish observance is supposed to create connections - connections in the Jewish home, within the Jewish community, within Jewish institutions, but also between all of those things and the broader non-Jewish world.

PRICHEP: For many American Jews, hateful tweets, synagogue shootings, a former president hosting white nationalists are frightening. They remind people of danger they hoped was in the past. Back in New York during World War II, Beth Richman's grandparents had a brick thrown through their window. She says putting her little electric menorah up in her Portland window feels like an important act of resistance.

RICHMAN: We do have to light up our identities. We do have to light up the awareness¹² that we have warmth and light and beauty during this time of year as well.

PRICHEP: Lighting¹³ a candle, or twisting a bulb, is a way of literally¹⁴ identifying yourself, but also a way of kindling¹⁵ a light in dark times and welcoming others to do the same.

For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep.

(SOUNDBITE OF ICHIKA NITO'S "ISOLATION")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 passersby   

n. 过路人(行人,经过者)

参考例句：

• He had terrorized Oxford Street,where passersby had seen only his footprints. 他曾使牛津街笼罩了一片恐怖气氛，因为那儿的行人只能看到他的脚印，看不到他的人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• A person is marceling on a street, watching passersby passing. 街边烫发者打量着匆匆行人。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

5 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

6 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。

10 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

11 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

13 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子