【纽约时报 20160925】犹太人与中国人：共同的身份
【中文标题】犹太人与中国人：共同的身份
【原文标题】Jewish and Chinese: Explaining a Shared Identity
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【原文作者】CHRIS BUCKLEY
【原文链接】http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/world/asia/china-kaifeng-jews-moshe-bernstein.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FChina
开封曾经的犹太人街区，紧邻一个老旧的犹太教堂。
中国中部的开封市，古老的犹太人街区正在经历一次文化和宗教的复兴，直到政府在近期采取了打压的态势，它禁止集体宗教活动，还驱逐外国犹太人组织。摩西•耶胡达•伯恩斯坦是西澳大利亚珀斯市的一位学者，他仔细研究了复兴的过程，并且正在写一本书《全球化、翻译和转变：中国开封的中犹文化体系》。伯恩斯坦先生在接受采访的过程中，详细揭示了复兴的背景和官方的限制行动。
当我告诉人们，说我正在准备一篇有关开封的犹太人的报道时，有些人问我，他们真的是犹太人吗？我相信你也收到过同样的问题。你为什么对这个课题感兴趣？你怎么回答这个问题？
十五年前，我在珀斯卡梅尔学校任犹太人研究导师时，被邀请到南京大学做有关犹太人课题的讲座，中国在几年前刚刚开办了第一个犹太人研究院系。最后一次讲座之后，接待我的徐新教授给了我一本书《古代开封犹太人》。在此之前，我从未听说过开封有犹太人存在，他们的犹太教堂竟然能延续几个世纪。我迫不及待地想更多地了解这个群体。同时，中国学生对于犹太人和犹太教的热情也让我想更加深入地了解中国文化。
2009年，我第一次来到开封，试图了解犹太文化在经历了同化和语言变更之后怎样延续了将近一千年。我惊讶地发现这个小小的中国人群体还在学习希伯来语、研习犹太律法、庆祝安息日，并且渴望回到以色列的土地。由于他们的祖先已经与汉族通婚，并以父系身份相传，这些开封犹太人的后裔完全理解，根据犹太人母系身份相传的法律，他们不被认可为犹太人。但是，他们对于自身犹太人身份的认知与中国人的身份是息息相关的，因为儒家文化崇敬祖先。努力继承祖先的习俗和遗产，仅仅是用中国的方式表示尊敬。
在我讲述开封犹太人故事的过程中，有时会遭遇到挫败感，其中一个问题就是，这个现实很难被西方人理解。有时候，在我的演讲结束之后，一位听众会走过来问我：“但是，他们并不是真正的犹太人，对吗？”
在中国中部一个肮脏的小城市，一群人说自己是犹太人，信奉犹太宗教，并以犹太文化为荣，的确有些怪异。犹太人的文化遗产在经历了几个世纪的混乱、狂躁之后，是怎么在开封幸存下来的呢？
开封犹太人的经历与欧洲犹太人完全不同。开封的犹太人没有遭受过歧视，而且享受到了经济、社会和文化的整合。犹太文化在西方的盛行部分原因在于它与占主导地位的基督教文化有显著的区别，而开封的犹太文化得以延续，原因是它与中国文化的诸多共同点。孝顺、敬老、推崇知识、尊重传统权威，在这些方面，中国的犹太人发现他们的遗产与中国传统文化可以和谐共处。尽管这看起来有些矛盾，犹太遗产的延续竟然来自于他们的中国文化身份。在我第一次去开封之前，我在北京遇到了山东大学犹太学教授艾弗拉姆•厄尔里奇。临别时，他对我说：“记住，他们是犹太人，因为他们是儒家思想的奉行者。”
有人说，开封犹太教和犹太人身份的兴起来源于某些物质动力，比如人们标榜自己的犹太人身份，这样他们的孩子可以移民，或者得到外界的援助。你认为究竟是什么促成了犹太文化的复兴？
摩西•耶胡达•伯恩斯坦
不可否认，物质动力的确在文化复兴中扮演了一定的角色。一些国际组织，包括“回归以色列”和中国犹太研究院，为这些人的公共集会提供了场所。几名犹太人后裔得到了来自这些组织的奖学金和津贴。而且，“回归以色列”敞开大门，让至少17名开封犹太人年轻的后裔移民以色列。他们已经正式皈依犹太教，并且得到了以色列公民的身份。
但是，把这个群体的行为完全归结为物质动力，等于忽略了他们对犹太人身份认知的最重要的因素：他们共同的历史记忆和中国人尊敬祖先的传统。这才是中国犹太人身份的内部驱动力，物质利益是次要的。
一些开封的犹太人后裔试图成为真正的犹太人，同时还想保留骄傲的中国人身份。在开封，有关犹太人和中国身份的讨论是如何展开的？
这场对话，自从第一批犹太居民在10世纪来到开封时，就已经开始了，并且延续至今。保存在犹太教徒后院的石柱经常被用来证明犹太教、儒家和道家共同遵守的价值观、道德观念和思想。我接触过的几乎所有开封犹太人都非常尊崇中国经典著作，大部分人承认犹太思想与中国传统思想的密切联系。有些人说，尽管中国的传统缺少有关至尊神明的具体形象，但是双方的价值体系极为相似。
在实际层面，这个群体现实地看到了在开封从事犹太教活动的限制。安息日不得不正常工作，没有条件过完整的犹太人生活方式。但是尽管有诸多限制，他们在培养自身的犹太人身份上有了了不起的进展。我认为他们期望并不高。比如，他们虽然希望能有一个真正的犹太教堂，但是目前具备的条件已经能让他们满足：安息日和节日晚间的聚会、一些人掌握的希伯来语、礼拜仪式、学习犹太律法和犹太教传统。
开封的犹太人社区正在遭受官方打压，政府禁止集体礼拜活动，一些证明历史的标语也被移除。那里的犹太人社区如何应对？
近期政府的打压让开封犹太文化发生了倒退。他们不可以与外国人联系，就像1978年“改革开放”之前的政策。他们也不能在公共场所集会，而只能在星期五晚上在自己的家里做礼拜，就像90年代的做法。
尽管这看起来像是一个挫折，但是我认为充长远来看，目前的局势是有利的。开封对于非政府组织的支持永远是一把双刃剑。它可以让犹太社区用更好的方式来复兴文化遗产，但政府总是不放心，就像我们今天看到的情况。
他们利用现有的方法，会比以前更好地维系这种草根阶层的中犹身份。他们的希伯来语技能、安息日晚间的礼拜活动、庆祝节日、学习犹太律法，以及家人和朋友回归以色列，这一些都能让他们在官方的打压态势下继续独立前进。开封历史上的犹太人为了延续他们的遗产，展现出真诚、智慧和坚韧的特点，当代的犹太人社区也保留了同样的品质。
原文：
Residents in what was a Jewish neighborhood, next to the site of the old synagogue, in Kaifeng.
The ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, in central China, was experiencing a cultural and religious revival until a recent government clampdown, which has brought a ban on collective worship and forced out foreign Jewish groups. Moshe Yehuda Bernstein is a researcher based in Perth, Western Australia, who has studied this revival and written a coming book, “Globalization, Translation and Transmission: Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity in Kaifeng, China.” In an interview, Mr. Bernstein explained the background to the recent revival and official restrictions.
When I told people I was working on a story about the Jews of Kaifeng, some asked whether they’re really Jews. I’m sure you’ve been asked the same. How did you become interested in them, and how do you answer that question?
Fifteen years ago, when I was director of Jewish studies at Carmel School in Perth, I was invited to lecture on Jewish topics at Nanjing University, where one of the first Jewish studies departments in China had been launched a few years earlier. At the final lecture, Xu Xin, the professor who hosted me, gave me his book “The Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng.” Until then, I had never heard of the presence of Jews in Kaifeng or their synagogue that endured for seven centuries. This sparked an interest in learning more about this community. As well, the enthusiasm of Chinese students towards Jews and Judaism made me want to learn more about Chinese culture.
In 2009, I made my first visit to Kaifeng to research how Jewish culture survived for almost a millennium in spite of assimilation and language shifts. I was amazed to see this small group of Chinese people learning Hebrew, studying the Torah, celebrating the Shabbat and yearning to return to the land of Israel. As their ancestors had intermarried and practiced patrilineal descent, the Jewish descendants of Kaifeng understand full well that they are not considered Jewish according to Jewish law, where identity is determined by the mother. Their Jewish self-identification, however, is linked to their Chinese identity in which Confucian tradition honors ancestors. Emulating the customs and heritage of their forebears is the Chinese way of paying them respect.
One of the frustrations I have had when lecturing about Kaifeng’s Jews is that this concept is very difficult for Westerners to understand. Occasionally, at the end of my talks, a member of the audience will approach me with the question: “But they’re not really Jewish, are they?”
It’s striking to see people in a dusty little city in central China embracing a Jewish identity, through religious observance or cultural pride. How did the idea of a Jewish heritage survive in Kaifeng over all these tumultuous centuries?
The Jewish experience in Kaifeng was vastly different to that of the Jews in Europe. The Kaifeng Jews faced no discrimination and enjoyed economic, social and cultural integration. While Jewish culture in the West flourished due to the relative isolation of European Jews from the dominant Christian culture, Kaifeng Jewish culture was able to perpetuate itself through the values it shared with the Chinese. Filial piety, respect for elders, respect for scholarship and respect for traditional authority were ideals that enabled the Chinese Jews to view their heritage as harmonious with the dominant culture in China. Although it seems counterintuitive, the survival of their Jewish heritage resulted from their identification with Chinese culture. Before my first visit to Kaifeng, I met in Beijing with Avrum Ehrlich, then professor of Jewish studies at Shandong University. His parting words to me were: “Remember that they are Jewish, because they are Confucian!”
Some skeptics say that the revival of Jewish religion and identity in Kaifeng has a material motive — that people have claimed the identity so that they or their children can migrate, or to win aid from outsiders. What do you think has nurtured this revival?
Moshe Yehuda Bernstein
There is no denying that material motives have played a part in stimulating this revival. Organizations like Shavei Israel and the Sino-Judaic Institute have provided support for the venues of their communal gatherings. A few descendants have received scholarships and grants from these organizations. In addition, Shavei has facilitated aliyah — migration to Israel — for at least 17 of the younger members of the community, who have undergone formal conversion into Judaism and received Israeli citizenship.
However, reducing the motivations of the community to material motives neglects the most significant aspect of their self-identification as Jews: their collective historical memory and the Chinese notion of loyalty to one’s ancestors. These have been the internal motivators of Sino-Judaic identity. The material benefits are tangential.
Some Jewish descendants in Kaifeng are trying to find ways to be authentically Jewish while also proudly Chinese. How has that dialogue between Jewish and Chinese identities evolved in Kaifeng?
That dialogue began with the arrival of the first Jewish settlers to Kaifeng in the 10th century and has continued until today. The stelae that were kept in the courtyard of the synagogue frequently referred to the commonalities between the values, morals and ideas of Judaism and Confucianism and Taoism. Nearly all of the Kaifeng Jews I have spoken with expressed great respect for the Chinese classics. Most acknowledged an underlying affinity between Jewish and Chinese thought. A few said that while the Chinese traditions lacked the firm concept of a supreme deity, the value systems had striking similarities.
On a practical level, the community is realistic about the limitations to Jewish observance in Kaifeng. Working on the Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, is a necessity, and there is no infrastructure to support a fully Jewish lifestyle. But within these limitations they have made remarkable progress in cultivating aspects of their Jewish identity. I think that their expectations are modest. For example, while they would prefer to have a real synagogue, they are pragmatic enough to be satisfied with what they have achieved up until now: communal gatherings for Shabbat and holiday evenings, Hebrew-language skills for some, the shared liturgical rituals and the learning of Torah and Jewish traditions.
The Kaifeng community is under official pressure, with bans on group worship and the signs of their historical presence being removed. How will the Jewish community there come through all this?
The recent official pressure has pushed Kaifeng Jewish culture back in time. They are no longer allowed contact with foreigners, as was the case before the “reform and opening up” that began in 1978. As well, they are no longer allowed gatherings in communal venues but instead conduct Friday night services in their homes, like they did in the 1990s.
Although this appears to be a setback, my view is that the current situation could benefit the community in the long run. The support of the foreign NGOs in Kaifeng has always been a double-edged sword. It enabled the community to better develop practical tools to revive their heritage, but it has often been a cause of governmental concern, the likes of which we are witnessing today.
With the tools they have been given, they are now more capable than before of sustaining a kind of grass-roots Sino-Judaic identity. Their Hebrew-language skills, performance of the Shabbat Evening liturgy, celebration of the festivals, Torah study and the aliyah of many of their family members and friends, all ensure that they have the means to move forward independently in spite of official pressures. The historical Kaifeng Jews displayed ingenuity, resourcefulness and resilience in maintaining their heritage, and the contemporary community has the same traits to persevere.
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