周日，一名耶路撒冷市政工作人員在懸掛美國(guó)國(guó)旗，為喬·拜登總統(tǒng)即將到來(lái)的訪問(wèn)做準(zhǔn)備?！白屛覀兛吹矫绹?guó)永遠(yuǎn)支持像以色列這樣的盟友，”作者說(shuō)。
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Uluru National Park, Northern Territory, Australia – The world’s largest rock is red, beautiful and resembles a giant meteor that fell out of the sky and stands squarely in the middle of Australia. I have visited Uluru (formerly known as Ayer’s Rock) before, especially in the Australian summer, when I felt I was placed in an oven that was set to hard broil and tormented mercilessly by flies. I have never experienced such extreme heat. Israel in high summer is Scandinavia compared Australia’s bright red center.

澳大利亞北領(lǐng)地烏魯魯國(guó)家公園——這世界上最大的巖石，紅色，美麗，像一顆從天上掉下來(lái)的巨大流星，筆直地矗立在澳大利亞中部。我以前去過(guò)烏魯魯（以前被稱(chēng)為艾耶爾巖石），尤其是在澳大利亞的夏天，當(dāng)時(shí)我覺(jué)得自己被放在一個(gè)烤箱里，蒼蠅無(wú)情地折磨著我。我從未經(jīng)歷過(guò)如此酷熱的天氣。以色列的盛夏，相比澳大利亞，簡(jiǎn)直就像在北歐。

Coming here in the winter is a more civilized experience, except one major omission: Americans. There are Asian and European visitors here. But we have not encountered even a single American. Which has worked somewhat in our favor as we’re the exotic family from half a world away.

冬天來(lái)到這里是一種更文明的體驗(yàn)，不過(guò)省略了一群重要的人：美國(guó)人。這里有亞歐游客。但我們甚至沒(méi)有遇到一個(gè)美國(guó)人。這在一定程度上對(duì)我們有利，因?yàn)槲覀兪莵?lái)自半個(gè)世界之遠(yuǎn)的異國(guó)。

And how do Australians and Europeans see Americans?

澳大利亞人和歐洲人如何看待美國(guó)人？
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Well, there was the woman from Alice Springs whom we asked to take our picture in front of the great rock. After joking that she’d have to account for my height (small) and my girth (slightly larger), she put down the camera and said. “Are you sure you’re American? I’ve never met a self-deprecating American.” She was totally serious. The Americans she’s met, she explained to me, are boisterous braggarts who assume the own the world.

嗯，有一個(gè)來(lái)自愛(ài)麗絲·斯普林斯的女人，我們要求她在大巖石前拍照。在開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)她必須考慮我的身高（小）和腰圍（稍大）后，她放下相機(jī)說(shuō)?！澳愦_定你是美國(guó)人嗎？我從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)一個(gè)自嘲的美國(guó)人?！彼耆钦J(rèn)真的。她向我解釋說(shuō)，她遇到的美國(guó)人都是狂妄自大的人，他們自以為擁有世界。

Her descxtion did not accord with my knowledge of my fellow countrymen, so let’s assume she had a bad experience.

她的描述與我對(duì)同胞的了解不符，所以讓我們假設(shè)她有過(guò)不好的經(jīng)歷。


Then there were the many Australians we met in Sydney, Australia’s leading city where my wife was born and raised, and where my parents-in-law live. They described to us a vision of Americans as a nation of people who first and foremost walk around breathing on each other in order to spread covid. Australia, along with China, had the strictest lockdowns in the world - a fact justified, I’m assuming, by seeing Americans walking around with lungs like jet engines that were spewing out coronavirus.

然后是我們?cè)谙つ嵊龅降脑S多澳大利亞人，悉尼是我妻子出生和長(zhǎng)大的澳大利亞主要城市，也是我岳父岳母居住的地方。他們向我們描述了這樣一個(gè)愿景：美國(guó)人首先是四處走動(dòng)，相互呼吸，以傳播新冠肺炎。澳大利亞和中國(guó)一樣，執(zhí)行了世界上最嚴(yán)格的封鎖——因?yàn)榭吹矫绹?guó)人帶著像噴氣發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)一樣的肺部四處走動(dòng)，噴出冠狀病毒，我覺(jué)得他們說(shuō)的對(duì)。

They must also assume that Americans are a superior race of invincible humanoids because they all have a vision of America being a place where bullets are whizzing by city streets from the moment you wake until late at night. What do we Americans do with our time? Why shoot each other, of course.

他們還必須假設(shè)美國(guó)人是無(wú)敵類(lèi)人種族中的佼佼者，因?yàn)樗麄兌颊J(rèn)為美國(guó)是一個(gè)從你醒來(lái)到深夜子彈在城市街道上呼嘯的地方。我們美國(guó)人用我們的時(shí)間做什么？當(dāng)然，為什么不互相射擊呢。

This past weekend, the terrible and tragic news of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe being assassinated hit Australia. To say it barely made news would be an exaggeration, but to say that it immediately disappeared from the front pages is entirely accurate. Imagine this, even though Australia is a country deeply tied to Asia, with China and Japan looming large for the Australian economy, in that order.

上周末，日本前首相安倍晉三遇刺的可怕悲慘消息襲擊了澳大利亞。說(shuō)它幾乎沒(méi)有成為新聞是夸大其詞，但說(shuō)它立即從頭版消失是完全準(zhǔn)確的。試想一下，盡管澳大利亞是一個(gè)與亞洲有著密切聯(lián)系的國(guó)家，中國(guó)和日本在澳大利亞經(jīng)濟(jì)中的地位也正是如此。

The same Japanese force that attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, attacked Darwin, Australia, just three months later. So you’d expect that any news pertaining to the actual murder by gunfire of the most consequential Japanese prime minister since the Second World War would be a huge story.

1941年12月襲擊珍珠港的同一支日本軍隊(duì)在三個(gè)月后襲擊了澳大利亞的達(dá)爾文。因此，你可以預(yù)料到，關(guān)于二戰(zhàn)以來(lái)最重要的日本首相被槍殺的消息理應(yīng)是一個(gè)大新聞。

It was not. Had it been a murderous gun rampage in the United States it would have rocked Australia and reinforced the notion that America is becoming a nation of violence lunatics who pray to Jesus in the morning, shoot each other in the afternoon, and then get on their knees and pay homage to Donald Trump at night.

事實(shí)并非如此。如果這是美國(guó)的一場(chǎng)兇殘的槍支暴亂，它將震撼澳大利亞，并強(qiáng)化這樣一種觀念：美國(guó)正在成為一個(gè)暴力瘋子的國(guó)家，他們?cè)缟舷蛞d祈禱，下午相互射擊，然后在晚上跪下向唐納德·特朗普致敬。

WHICH LEADS me to a conclusion.

這讓我得出了一個(gè)結(jié)論。

When I was a boy growing up Miami Beach, Florida, and saw how much disproportionate coverage the tiny state of Israel received, I began to understand the adage that “Jews are news.” There is nothing the Jewish nation does that does not receive an insane amount of coverage, for better and for worse.

當(dāng)我還是個(gè)小男孩的時(shí)候，我在佛羅里達(dá)州的邁阿密海灘長(zhǎng)大，看到這個(gè)小小的以色列國(guó)受到了如此多不成比例的報(bào)道，我開(kāi)始理解“猶太人是新聞”這句格言無(wú)論是好是壞，猶太民族所做的一切都會(huì)得到瘋狂的報(bào)道。

The magnetic pull of the Jewish people, in general, and the Jewish state, in particular, to the front pages of the world’s media reinforces an idea of the Jewish people as a chosen nation. A nation whose obsession by the other members of the world community bespeaks an evident, if unacknowledged role of spiritual leadership, just as the Bible declared when it marked the Jews as a “l(fā)ight unto the nations.”

一般來(lái)說(shuō)，猶太人民，特別是猶太國(guó)家，對(duì)世界媒體頭版的吸引力，強(qiáng)化了猶太人民作為一個(gè)被選擇的國(guó)家的觀念。一個(gè)被國(guó)際社會(huì)其他成員所困擾的國(guó)家，就算沒(méi)得到廣泛承認(rèn)，也表明了以色列起著一種明顯的精神領(lǐng)導(dǎo)作用，正如《圣經(jīng)》在將猶太人標(biāo)記為“作列國(guó)的光”時(shí)所宣稱(chēng)的那樣。

Readers of my columns will know that I have long lamented the Jewish refusal to assume that mantle of leadership. I feel strongly that the Jewish people should be at the forefront of teaching the world about resting on the Sabbath (resting does not mean going to the cineplex or shopping mall), honoring parents (which does not imply consigning them to a nursing home), honoring the sacred vows of marriage (which includes not betraying one another with unhealthy porn addiction), being scrupulously honest in business (even if it means losing money in the short term), tithing (not easy in a bad economy), and regular communal engagement (whether through Synagogue, other houses of worship, or helping to build communal life).

我專(zhuān)欄的讀者會(huì)知道，我長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直對(duì)猶太人拒絕承擔(dān)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)責(zé)任感到遺憾。我強(qiáng)烈認(rèn)為，猶太人應(yīng)該教育世界在安息日休息（休息并不意味著去電影院或購(gòu)物中心）、尊重父母（這并不意味著把他們送到療養(yǎng)院）、尊重神圣的婚姻誓言（其中包括不因不健康的色情成癮而背叛彼此），在商業(yè)上嚴(yán)格誠(chéng)實(shí)（即使這意味著在短期內(nèi)虧損）、交十一稅（在經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣的情況下不容易）和定期的社區(qū)參與（無(wú)論是通過(guò)猶太教、其他禮拜堂，還是幫助建立社區(qū)生活）。

Whenever we travel as an Orthodox Jewish family, we feel a special responsibility – wearing kippot and tzitzit – not only not to make a chillul Hashem (desecration of God’s name through unethical behavior), but to consecrate God’s name through positive action.

每當(dāng)我們作為一個(gè)正統(tǒng)的猶太家庭旅行時(shí)，我們都會(huì)感到一種特殊的責(zé)任——穿著基波特和?子——不僅要做一個(gè)冷酷的哈希姆（通過(guò)不道德的行為褻瀆上帝的名字），而且要通過(guò)積極的行動(dòng)神圣上帝的名。

Here at Uluru, smack at the center of Australia, Jews are barely known, Judaism much less so. When we explained our Sabbath restrictions to hotel staff, they nodded in respectful acknowledgment and told us they understand that we’re Seventh Day Adventists. We could have left it at that.

在澳大利亞中部的烏魯魯，猶太人幾乎不為人知，猶太教則更不為人所知。當(dāng)我們向酒店員工解釋安息日的限制時(shí)，他們恭敬地點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，并告訴我們他們明白我們是基督復(fù)臨安息日會(huì)信徒。我們本可以讓世人知曉安息日的。

But we made the point of explaining that the Jewish prohibitions of doing work on the Sabbath are different. They relate to any creative work that leaves a lasting and material improvement the world, which is why even writing words with a pen are prohibited.

我們特意解釋說(shuō)，猶太人禁止在安息日做工是不同的。它們與任何創(chuàng)造性的工作有關(guān)，這些工作可以給世界帶來(lái)持久的實(shí)質(zhì)性改善，這就是為什么甚至禁止用筆寫(xiě)字。

It’s time that America begins to acknowledge the same. The world is obsessed and enthralled with America, which gives it a unique responsibility to promote uniquely American values for the benefit of the world.

現(xiàn)在是美國(guó)開(kāi)始承認(rèn)同樣的時(shí)候了。世界癡迷于美國(guó)，這賦予了它獨(dú)特的責(zé)任，即為了世界的利益而傳播獨(dú)特的美國(guó)價(jià)值觀。

Whereas once that obsession with America was almost wholly positive – America as a harbinger of freedom and human dignity, whose greatest generation defeated Hitler – today, people are looking to unfairly criticize the US. They overlook American sacrifice in the Middle East to remove barbarous dictators like Saddam Hussein, stand up to Iran and support Ukraine against the brutality of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But for all that, everyone understands that America is still the greatest light of liberty the world has ever seen.

曾經(jīng)，對(duì)美國(guó)的癡迷幾乎是完全積極的——美國(guó)是自由和人類(lèi)尊嚴(yán)的先驅(qū)，其最偉大的一代打敗了希特勒——今天，人們開(kāi)始尋求不公平地批評(píng)美國(guó)。他們忽視了美國(guó)在中東的犧牲，以推翻像薩達(dá)姆·侯賽因這樣的野蠻獨(dú)裁者，站出來(lái)反對(duì)伊朗，支持烏克蘭反對(duì)俄羅斯總統(tǒng)弗拉基米爾·普京的殘暴行為。但盡管如此，每個(gè)人都明白，美國(guó)仍然是世界有史以來(lái)最偉大的自由之光。

It’s a responsibility we should take seriously. Let America never placate tyrannies like Iran or allow them to fund terrorists around the Middle East. Let America never turn a blind eye to the aggression of thugs like Putin, whose megalomania and violence threatens world peace.

這是我們應(yīng)該認(rèn)真對(duì)待的責(zé)任。讓美國(guó)永遠(yuǎn)不要安撫像伊朗這樣的暴政，也不要讓它們資助中東周?chē)目植婪肿?。讓美?guó)永遠(yuǎn)不要對(duì)普京等暴徒的侵略視而不見(jiàn)，他們的狂妄自大和暴力威脅著世界和平。

And let’s see America forever stand by allies like Israel, who are committed to the very same values, ideals and principles that Americans just recently reaffirmed on the Fourth of July: an unshakable belief that all of God’s children are equal all are born free, and all deserving of a life suffused with happiness.

讓我們看到美國(guó)永遠(yuǎn)站在像以色列這樣的盟友身邊，他們致力于美國(guó)人最近在7月4日剛剛重申的相同的價(jià)值觀、理想和原則：不可動(dòng)搖的信念，即上帝的所有孩子都是平等的，所有人都生而自由，所有人都值得過(guò)上充滿(mǎn)幸福的生活。

The writer, “America’s Rabbi” whom The Washington Post calls “the most famous Rabbi in America,” is the international best-selling author or 36 books, including most recently, Holocaust Holiday: One Family’s Descent into GENO.... Memory Hell.

作者是什穆利·博特奇，“美國(guó)的拉比”，被《華盛頓郵報(bào)》稱(chēng)為“美國(guó)最著名的拉比”，是國(guó)際暢銷(xiāo)書(shū)作家。其36本書(shū)，包括最近的《大屠殺假期：一個(gè)家庭的淪落到種族滅絕記憶地獄》。

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