VOA标准英语2013--Leader of Egyptian Jews Honored at Funeral

 

Leader of Egyptian Jews Honored at Funeral

Egypt's fading Jewish community has receded¹ even further. Carmen Weinstein, the leader of about 20 elderly women who make up the last of Cairo's once vibrant² Jewish presence, was laid to rest Thursday. She was 82.

Rabbi Marc Elfassy, a close friend, came from Paris to remember her and pay homage³.

"She gave her heart and soul," said Elfassy. "It was her son, her children - the association of the little Jewish community in Cairo."

Elfassy was among friends from home and abroad, including Israel's ambassador and Weinstein's successor as the community's president, Magda Haroun. They gathered at Cairo's Adly Street synagogue.

Mourners hailed Weinstein's “dogged determination” to preserve and protect. Rabbi Andrew Baker⁴ of the American Jewish Committee:

“She shouldered not just the responsibility of these small number of Jews, but really the heritage that has been the legacy⁵ of Jews in Egypt - at its height some 80,000 people, here in Cairo alone, 10 synagogues," said Baker. "This had really been an enormous challenge, even burden, that she undertook.”

Among her successes was pushing for the restoration of the Maimonides Synagogue, named after the great Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages. She also help saved a portion of the Jewish cemetery⁶ of Bassatine, the only remaining Jewish cemetery in Cairo. 

But on the day she was buried there, the fortunes of a long-gone community are painfully clear. Graves are defaced for their marble, wild dogs move through the trash.

Weinstein was one of the stubborn few Jews who stayed in Egypt. Many left starting in the 1950s as tensions grew between the new Israeli state and Egypt's government, led by Arab-nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser. By the 1967 Arab Israeli war, very few remained.

For returning Egyptian Jews, this moment was bittersweet. Roger Bilboul, of the Nebi Daniel Association, was a teenager when he left.

“You cannot go back in time," said Bilboul. "You have to accept that things have changed. All you can do is ensure the memories are preserved. And that one will be going forward in terms of making sure that our descendants have a place where they can see where they came from.”

As for the Egyptian Jews who remain, they hope their final days will be peaceful - even as the country has been seized by religious tension.

Bilboul believes there is safety in small numbers.

“It is not worth bothering about such an small, frail⁷, old community," he said.

A small community, but one whose legacy Carmen Weinstein ensured will endure.

1 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

2 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

3 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。