VOA常速英语2014--Passover Celebrates Liberation from Bondage 世界各地犹太人庆祝逾越节

 

Passover Celebrates Liberation from Bondage¹ 世界各地犹太人庆祝逾越节

WASHINGTON — Jewish people around the world are celebrating Passover, a commemoration of their liberation from slavery in Egypt more than 3,300 years ago. According to scripture², God helped the Jews, led by Moses, escape bondage in Egypt and cross the Red Sea into the desert. The story of the Jewish Exodus³ resonates with other people trying to escape slave-like conditions.

华盛顿 — 世界各地的犹太人正在庆祝逾越节，纪念3,300年前犹太人从埃及人的奴役下被解救出来。据经文记载，上帝帮助了犹太人，让他们在摩西的带领下逃脱桎梏，穿越红海，进入沙漠。犹太人出逃的故事与其他试图逃离奴隶般处境的人有异曲同工之妙。

Preparations for Passover include butchering sheep and baking unleavened bread known as matzah.

逾越节的准备工作包括宰杀羔羊和烘烤无酵饼。  

"It's called the food of faith, just like our forefathers⁴, when they left Egypt into the desert with a lot of faith, and trust in God, they went with these matzahs and we relive it every year when we celebrate the holiday of Passover, and we sit at our Passover table eating the matzah," said Rabbi Menachem Glukovsky.

犹太教拉比格鲁科夫斯基说：“这些叫做信仰的食物，就像我们的先人一样，他们怀着坚定的信仰、对上帝的信任离开埃及、进入沙漠，而他们随身携带的就是这种无酵饼。今天，我们庆祝逾越节的时候，会一起吃无酵饼，重温当年的景象。”

Tradition does not allow consumption of products with yeast⁵ during the seven-day festival. Many Jewish communities observe the symbolic⁶ burning of yeast ahead of Passover. 

传统上，在持续7天的逾越节期间，人们不能吃任何含有酵母的食物。很多犹太人社区在逾越节前会象征性地焚烧酵母。

"The symbolic burning of the chametz (leaven)… is a symbol of all the sins of klal yisrael, the Jewish people… we pray to Hakodesh Baruch Hu (the Holy One Blessed by He) that all our sins should be burnt and we go in to the Pesach Yom-Tov (Passover holiday) fully⁷ purified," said Yehoshua Klein, an ultra-Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem.

克莱因是耶路撒冷一位极端正统派犹太教徒。他说：“这是象征性地烧掉酵母，酵母是所有的罪的象征。犹太人祈祷，我们应当把所有的罪烧掉，以完全清洁的身心庆祝逾越节。”

In the neighboring West Bank, a Samaritan community near the city of Nablus performed a traditional butchering of sheep.

在比邻以色列的约旦河西岸纳布鲁斯市附近的一个撒玛利亚人社区，人们正在按照传统方式宰杀羔羊。

"This holiday is for seven days, first day is the slaughter⁸ day. We eat during this holiday only stuff without yeast, for example we make the bread at home without yeast," explained Haroun Saloum, a Samaritan priest.

撒玛利亚神父萨鲁姆说：“这个节日持续7天，第一天是宰羊的日子。在节日期间，我们只吃不带酵母的东西，比如在家里烤制的这种无酵饼。”

It is not only Jews who observe Passover. Hundreds of detained African migrants gathered in Israel's Negev desert on Friday to eat matzah and recall the Passover story, outside the facility where they are being held. Despite efforts to prevent immigration from Egypt, and repatriate⁹ illegal African migrants, hundreds cross into Israel every year.

庆祝逾越节的不只是犹太人。上星期五，在以色列内盖夫沙漠一处拘留中心外面，几百名被拘留的非洲移民在一起吃着无酵饼，讲述逾越节的故事。尽管以色列千方百计阻止人们从埃及移民以色列，同时遣返非法非洲移民，但每年仍有成千上万的人进入以色列。萨利曼就是其中之一。

"You [Jews] asked to leave Egypt. We also asked to leave our countries because the situation there is very difficult. The Torah says don't wrong a stranger, don't do those things, because you were also one in Egypt. So I tell them [the Jews] don't forget the Torah," said Anwar Suliman, one of the Africans held in Israel's Holot detention¹⁰ facility.

萨利曼说：“你们犹太人要求离开埃及，我们也要求离开自己的国家，因为那里的情况太糟糕了。圣经说，不要对陌生人施恶，不要做那些事，因为你们也曾经生活在埃及。所以我告诉犹太人，不要忘记圣经。”

Rabbi Susan Silverman, a pro-migrant activist¹¹, said Jews celebrating Passover must recall the real spirit of Passover.

拉比希尔弗曼是一位支持移民的活动人士。他说，庆祝逾越节的犹太人必须牢记逾越节的真谛：

"Every single person in this country who sits down to a Passover seder [meal] has to say to themselves: am I taking care of the stranger among us right now? Why am I doing this ritual? Is it an empty, meaningless ritual and I do it because my parents did it and my grandparents did it and my great-grandparents did it? Or do you do it because it means something?" said Silverman.

“这个国家今天享用逾越节食物的每个人都应当自问：我关照我们当中的陌生人了吗？我为什么要过逾越节？这是不是一个空洞无物、毫无意义的节日？而我之所以过这个节，是因为父母、祖父母、祖先都庆祝逾越节，还是因为这个节日有它的意义？”

 

Passover dinner is usually celebrated¹² at home with family members and close friends.  But in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, hundreds of Jewish travellers joined by local residents attended what organizers claim was the world's biggest Passover celebration on Monday.

人们通常都和亲朋好友在家里共进逾越节晚餐。但是在尼泊尔首都加德满都，数百名犹太游客星期一和当地居民一起参加了据组织者说是世界上最大的逾越节庆祝活动。

1 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

2 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

3 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

4 forefathers   

n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 yeast   

n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫

参考例句：

• Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
• The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。

6 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

7 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。

8 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

9 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。