【英语语言学习】犹太文化

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Today, 27 European countries are marking what is called the European Day of Jewish Culture. The initiative is aimed at opening the doors of Jewish communities, heritage cites and culture to the non-Jewish world and also to deepen Jews' own knowledge of their history in Europe. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from little Jerusalem, a medieval town in the Italian region of Tuscony.

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE¹: Pitigliano soars majestically² over vineyards and olive groves³. Its centuries-old, multistoried buildings seem carved out of a massive volcanic⁴ tufa rock first settled by the Etruscans. In the 16th century while Venice, Rome and Florence were locking Jews up in ghettos, the Orsinis, enlightened rulers of the independent states of Pitigliano, welcomed Jewish traders and craftsmen⁶ to boost the local economy.

PAOLA BLANCHI: And they gave them chances to work by opening a bank and by trading, especially in textiles, and therefore starts this double presence, Jews and Christians⁷ all together in a very small state.

POGGIOLI: Tourist guide Paola Blanchi says that state of civility ended when Pitigliano came under the rule of the Medicis of Florence allied⁸ with the Papal State in persecuting⁹ Jews.

BLANCHI: They have to leave their private property and to go and live inside the Jewish Quarter. It was no longer so free as it was earlier. They had to carry a sign, a yellow sign or a tunic¹⁰.

POGGIOLI: Pitigliano's best-known delicacy¹¹ is a stick of pastry¹² filled with honey and walnuts¹³. It's called sfratto. It's Italian for eviction¹⁴. Recalling the sticks used by Medici officers to knock on Jewish doors and order Jews from their homes and into the ghetto⁵.

A century after the Medicis arrived, Pitigliano again came under enlightened rule. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany granted Jews freedom to live and work where they pleased. At their peak, Jews made up a quarter of Pitigliano's population and enjoyed what came to be known as their golden period.

But by 1938 when the fascist¹⁵ regime imposed anti-Semitic laws, only 70 Jews were left in Pitigliano. Today, they're down to four or five. But every year, tens of thousands of visitors, Jews and non-Jews, descend¹⁶ steep stone stairs to visit the Little Jerusalem Association. The cultural organization comprises the restored synagogue dating from 1598 and the ritual bath, slaughter¹⁷ house and bakery; all three carved out of the tufa rock centuries ago.

Visitor Judith Elkin from Poughkeepsie, New York is trying to fill a gap in her knowledge about her Jewish heritage between the stories of the Bible and the time her grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Europe.

JUDITH ELKIN: How did they, out in the diaspora - how did they keep going? I think that's what brings me here. I feel attached. How did they keep going here?

POGGIOLI: But most visitors to Pitigliano are not Jewish like Claudia Malgara from Milan.

CLAUDIA MALGARA: We don't know really the Jewish culture so it's interesting. And the memory come back to the people that live here. And now they are dead.

RUTH ELLEN GRUBER: You talk about the holocaust¹⁸, you talk about death.

POGGIOLI: Ruth Ellen Gruber writes frequently about Jewish cultural and heritage issues in Europe. She says Pitigliano is the perfect illustration of the aim of the European Day of Jewish Culture - celebrating Jewish life.

GRUBER: To promote the idea that Jewish culture is part of European culture, it's not something that it is something else. Jews have lived in Europe for centuries, in Italy for millenia. And what developed here is part of, you know, the Italian reality just as the Jewish culture in other parts of Europe is part of European culture.

POGGIOLI: The Day of Jewish Culture has been attracting growing numbers of visitors throughout Europe. Last year, a thousand different events drew close to a hundred thousand visitors across the continent. And organizers see the annual event as a crucial response to the surge in anti-Semitism in many parts of Europe. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.

1 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。

2 majestically   

雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地

参考例句：

• The waters of the Changjiang River rolled to the east on majestically. 雄伟的长江滚滚东流。
• Towering snowcapped peaks rise majestically. 白雪皑皑的山峰耸入云霄。

3 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

5 ghetto   

n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区

参考例句：

• Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
• I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。

6 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 persecuting   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him. 当老恩萧发现他的儿子这样虐待他所谓的可怜的孤儿时，这种逆来顺受使老恩萧冒火了。
• He is possessed with the idea that someone is persecuting him. 他老是觉得有人要害他。

10 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

11 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

12 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

13 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

14 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

15 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。

16 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

17 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。

18 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。