VOA慢速英语--以色列与美国的犹太人:相似与不同

AS IT IS 2016-03-20 Israeli and US Jews: Alike and Different 以色列与美国的犹太人:相似与不同

Jews in Israel and the United States share pride in their religion, says the Pew Research Center.

But there are also differences in how they view being Jewish.

Pew polled Jews in America and Israel about religion twice and compared the results. One poll was done this month with Israeli Jews and the other in 2013 of American Jews.

In both nations, more than nine out of 10 Jews say they are proud to be Jewish, according to Pew.

Other questions drew different responses from American and Israeli Jews.

In the United States, 69 percent of Jews said they believe leading an ethical¹ and moral life is important to being Jewish. In Israel, the percentage is 47 percent, Pew said.

Also 56 percent of American Jews said they believe working for justice and equality is important to being Jewish. The percentage is about half as much in Israel, according to Pew.

Israeli Jews are more likely than American Jews to view following Jewish religious law as important. Thirty-five percent of Israeli Jews consider observing Jewish law important, compared to 19 percent of Americans, Pew said.

But Jews in the two countries have similar opinions on what would disqualify a person from being Jewish.

Majorities in both countries said they believe a person can be a Jew if she or he works on the Jewish Sabbath, criticizes Israel, or does not believe in God, according to Pew.

But only 18 percent of Jews in Israel and 34 percent in the United States said they believe a person who believes Jesus was the Messiah can be Jewish.

The two nations have the largest populations of Jewish people – 6.1 million in Israel and 5.7 million in the United States.

Words in This Story

pride – n. a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people

poll – v. to ask people a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

ethical – adj. behaving in a way that is right and good

Sabbath – n. day of religious observance

Messiah – n. Jews believe a king will be sent by God to save the Jews, and Christians believe it is Jesus Christ

1 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。