VOA常速英语2007年-Historic New York City Synagogue Restored

By Victoria Cavaliere
New York
29 December 2007

The first synagogue built by Eastern European Jews in New York City has undergone a massive, $20 million renovation¹ and it recently reopened. Victoria Cavaliere reports from VOA's New York bureau that the synagogue in Manhattan's Lower East Side is an icon² of Jewish and immigrant history in New York.

The Eldridge Street Synagogue is a striking, Moorish-style structure that stands out because of its location in the heart of what is now the city's bustling³ Chinatown district.

The synagogue was built in 1887, and for about 50 years had a thriving congregation of Eastern European immigrants who settled on the Lower East Side.

Amy Milford, deputy director of the museum at the Eldridge Street Synagogue, says immigrant Jews worshiped in store-fronts and people's homes before the synagogue was built.

"If you look at Eldridge Street, you see these towers with stars of David, and it proudly proclaimed the building a Jewish site. This was a pretty amazing thing for this community of immigrants who had come from Russia, Poland, and Lithuania. Places where they had been persecuted⁴ for being Jewish," she said.

By the 1950s, the congregation had dwindled⁵ as Jews left the Lower East Side and moved uptown and to Brooklyn. Only a small number of highly observant Orthodox Jews remained, meeting in the building's basement.

The once-grand sanctuary⁶ fell into disrepair, and leaks from the roof badly damaged the brass⁷ fixtures⁸, stained glass windows, murals and woodwork.

Milford says pigeons even roosted in the ceiling's wood beams.

In the mid-1980s, a historian named Gerard Wolfe spearheaded an effort to restore the building's original grandeur⁹.

The project took 20 years and cost more than $20 million.

"What's so interesting about this restoration is that we didn't want to make it look brand new. We really wanted the building to tell its stories. We've even left one area unrestored. That's because we want people to know the whole story of the building," Milford said.

Milford says the renovation marks a new chapter in the synagogue and the history of Jews in New York. She says the synagogue will function as a museum and a learning center, but she adds that its orthodox congregation will continue to gather in the structure, as it has for nearly a century.

1 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

2 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

3 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

4 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

5 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

7 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

8 fixtures   

（房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动

参考例句：

• The insurance policy covers the building and any fixtures contained therein. 保险单为这座大楼及其中所有的设施保了险。
• The fixtures had already been sold and the sum divided. 固定设备已经卖了，钱也分了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。