犹太成人礼

杨宇宸

兩年前，我收到了一位犹太朋友寄来的“成人礼邀请函”。

来到教堂后，我和朋友们在中间的一排坐了下来。我发现座位上安放着两本书。其中一本的封面上印刷着英语和希伯来语，写着“塔纳赫（Tanakh）”，意思是希伯来《圣经》；另一本只有希伯来语。

Two years ago， I got an invitation to a bat mitzvah from one of my Jewish friends.

Walked inside temple，my friends and I took our seats at the middle row. I found two books on my seats. One of them has both Hebrew （Jewish language） and English titles on its cover. It reads，“Tanakh”， Hebrew Bible. The other book has only Hebrew on its cover.

典礼开始。一男一女走上舞台，用英语简单地介绍了本次成人礼仪式。我的朋友——那个犹太女孩——也走上了舞台。接着，女人开始用希伯来语唱起歌来，男人的声音也加入进来。唱完歌，女主持人帮助我的朋友取出一卷名为“托拉”的巨大卷轴，上面载有犹太人必须遵守的戒律。

The ceremony began. A man and a woman came onto the stage to give a short introduction in English. My friend， the Jewish girl， came onto the stage too. Then the woman started singing in Hebrew， and the man joined in. After the song， the woman and the man helped my friend to get her Torah， a large scroll which I knew contains laws a Jew must follow.

她双手捧着卷轴，缓缓走进观众席。当她走近时，人们轻轻地碰碰她或卷轴，以此祝福她。接下来的四十多分钟，她用希伯来语朗读卷轴上的内容，其他人看着自己手中的书，跟随她朗读文字。

She held the Torah with both hands， and walked into the audience slowly. People touched her， or her Torah as she walked pass them to give her blessings. For the next 40 minutes or so， she just read the prayers and promises written on the Torah in Hebrew. We followed on our book copies.

典礼的尾声，我的朋友发表了有关成人礼的演讲，然后她的父母也发表了演讲，并赠予她庆祝成人的礼物。最后，客人们一起分享了代表祝福的葡萄汁和面包。

这是一个令人难忘的仪式，我们亲眼目睹了一位犹太少女翻开了她人生的新篇章——成年。

Finally， the ceremony came to an end. She gave a speech about the bat mitzvah. Then her parents gave her speeches and gifts for adulthood. At the end of the ceremony， guests were invited to share grape juice and bread. They also represent blessings.

Together， we celebrated her new life stage as a Jew—adulthood.