揭秘犹太人的7个传说，他们也纹身，吃培根…

Jews are known for many things, which means most people are believing incredible myths about them.

犹太人因许多事情闻名于世，这就意味着大多数人都认为在他们身上蕴含着不可思议的故事。

Most of them are simply ridiculous ideas, like the ones above, yet there are also some myths that are very plausible. With lots of Jews in Hollywood and American bigcities, these myths turned into real “legends”, that only Jews can understand.

他们中的大多数只是荒谬的想法，像上面所说，然而也有许多故事听起来非常合理。好莱坞和美国的大城市有许许多多犹太人，这些故事变成了真正的传说，只有犹太人才能理解。

That is until now– I managed to gather my courage and asked my Jewish friend the truth about these common myths. She told me everything I wanted to know and I am now sharing these with you. However, I am not sure we are still friends…

直到现在，我设法鼓起勇气，询问我的犹太朋友关于这些常见传说的真相。她告诉了我想知道的一切，现在，我将分享给你们。然而，分享后，我就不太确定我和她还是不是朋友。

1. Jews can get tattooes

1、犹太人可以纹身

This is probably the most common myth you can hear about Jews. It comes from the phrase in the Leviticus, which says Jews shall not carve any signs on them. This phrase is already controversial, as many Jews believe it to refer to idols, not regular tattoos.

这可能是关于犹太人最常见的传说。这来源于《利未记》，书上说犹太人不得在身上做任何痕迹。这个说话有争议，因为许多犹太人认为它是指不能纹崇拜之物，而不是普通的纹身。

However, there is no religious law that prohibits Jews from being buried in Jewish cemeteries if they are tattooed. Most Jews simply tell this to their kids to prevent them from getting tattoos.

然而，并没有宗教法律禁止带纹身的犹太人葬于犹太墓地。大多数犹太人却跟孩子们说带纹身者不能入葬，以防他们纹身。

But, there are cemetery administrators who impose strange rules, so this myth might come from someone who simply denied a Jew's' right to be buried in the cemetery due to being tattooed.

但是，墓地管理员设置了奇怪的规矩，所以这个说法可能来自那些否认带纹身的犹太人埋葬于公墓的权利。

2. Hanukkah is not the most important Jewish holiday

2、光明节不是犹太最重要的节日

Hanukkah is not the biggest Jewish holiday – in fact, it's not even mentioned in the Holy Books. Hanukkah is the celebration of the victory over the Syrians, when the lamp oil lasted longer than everyone expected, giving the Jews a big advantage.

光明节不是最大的犹太节日—事实上，圣经上甚至都没提到它。光明节是庆祝犹太人战胜叙利亚人，当时煤油照明比人们想象中持续更久的时间，这为犹太人带来了便利。

Rabbis were the ones to come up with Hanukkah and since then, it became the most notorious celebration of the Jews. The fact people exchange gifts for Hanukkah, which resembles the habit of exchanging gifts for Christmas, contributed to the notoriety of this holiday.

拉比提出光明节，从那时起，该节日就成为犹太人庆祝的最臭名昭著的节日。在节日当天，人们交换礼物，这个圣诞节交换礼物的习惯相似，因此导致这个节日的名声不大好。

When it comes to important holidays, there are Rosh Hashanah, Shavuot and the Passover, all of them mentioned in the Holy Books.

当谈及重要的节日时，比如犹太新年，七七节和逾越节，这些都在圣经中有所提及。

3. Food is kosher depending how you cook it

3、食物是否是洁食取决你如何做它

There is a belief rabbis bless the food to make it kosher – this is simply a myth! There is nomagic blessing that can make food kosher. The actual ingredients and the way you cook the food is what makes it kosher or not.

拉比总是祷告食物可以满足犹太洁食的标准—这只是个神话！没有任何神奇的祷告可以让食品变成犹太洁食。真实的配料和你烹饪食物的方式决定食物是否干净。

The only role of the rabbi is to make sure these rules are followed and you are not adding anything non-kosher to the pot. Speaking of the pot, you can't make kosher food in pots used to make regular food.

拉比唯一的作用就是确保人们能够遵循这些规则，你没有添加任何不干净的东西到锅里。说到锅，你不能像做普通食物那样在锅里做犹太洁食。

4. Jews focus on the life they live on earth

4、犹太人关注自己的生活

Opposed to Christians, Jews don't focus on the eternal life: they focus on the life they are living on the earth. They also have a version of Hell, but for Jews, the time spent in this damnation place is much shorter: one can only stay 12 months in the Hell. Of course, this makes the afterlife a lot easier, compared to that of a Christian.

和基督教徒相反，犹太人不关注永生：他们关注的是当下的生活。他们也会想象地狱的样子，但是对于犹太人来讲，在这个被诅咒的地方的时间相当少：一个人在地狱只会待上12个月。当然，和基督徒相比，这使来世变得更加容易了。

5. Jewish parents are flexible when it comes to shiksas

5、对于不守教规的犹太姑娘，犹太家长会灵活处理

This one is half true: Jewish moms and dads always hope their son is going to marry that nice girl they introduced to him at the temple. But this doesn't mean that shiksas are not going to marry any Jewish boy anytime soon.

这个说法只说对了一半：犹太的爸爸妈妈总是希望他们的儿子娶他们在神殿为他介绍的好女孩。但是这并不是说不守教规的犹太姑娘就嫁不出去。

Just like conservative Catholic parents are not happy when their kids bring to dinner their Jewish dates, Jewish parents are first reluctant to shiksas. But then everyone finds a way to have a good time, as long as the girl is not going to force her new family to eat pork.

就像保守的天主教父母不喜欢孩子把犹太对象带到家里吃饭一样，犹太父母对于见不守教规的犹太姑娘是极其不情愿的。但是，每个人都会找到开心时刻，只要那个姑娘不强迫她的家庭新成员食用猪肉。

6. Torah readings are not daily

6. 并不是每天都读律法

There are Jews who read from Torah daily, but many Jews stick to weekly readings. However, most Jewish families do the readings when they all gather around, which is mainly at big holidays.

有的犹太人每天都会阅读律法，但是还有许多他们会坚持每周阅读。然而，绝大多数犹太家庭聚会时会拿来阅读，主要集中在较大的节日里。

In the end, the frequency of the readings depend on how conservative the family is.

最后，阅读频率取决于家庭的保守程度。

7. Jews do eat bacon

7、犹太人确实也吃培根

Yes, culturally Jews are not allowed to eat pork, so bacon is also banned. But you can still be Jewish and eat bacon, if you want to.

是的，从文化角度来讲，犹太人并不允许吃猪肉，因此呢，培根也是禁止食用的。但是如果你愿意，即使是犹太人，你也可以吃培根。

These are some of the most important parts of the life of a Jew, which had been widely discussed by many non-Jews, thus the wide array of myths created around them.

这些都是犹太人生活中最重要的部分，它们被许多非犹太人广泛讨论，从而形成了一系列众人皆晓的神话。

Now that you know the truth, you can have fun with your Jewish friends, without believing they are strange creatures who run around speaking in an ancient language, while celebrating Hanukkah with kosher food.

既然你已经知道真相，你就可以和犹太朋友愉快玩耍，而不是觉得他们是操着古老语言到处乱跑的奇怪生物，可以共进犹太食物一起庆祝光明节哦！

（转载至：有道词典）