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Hanukkah

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 1558 Upper Intermediate
In this lesson, two radio announcers discuss the Jewish "Festival of Lights" in Chinese. Get the abridged history of the holiday along with your essential candle vocabulary. You'll be ready for your first Chinese Hanukkah in no time.
Tue Dec 07 2010 | Jenny, John
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SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
收听 shōutīng to listen to a broadcast
犹太人 Yóutàirén Jewish people
光明节 Guāngmíngjié Hanukkah
持续 chíxù to continue, to persist
欢迎大家收听我们的节目。现在呢，世界各地的犹太人正在庆祝光明节。光明节是犹太人的传统节日，一共持续8天。每逢光明节，每家都会点一种灯台，上面插着9根蜡烛。在第一个晚上，先点燃中间的蜡烛，然后用中间的蜡烛点燃第一支蜡烛，之后的每一天再多点一支。
huānyíng dàjiā shōutīng wǒmen de jiémù 。xiànzài ne ，shìjiègèdì de Yóutàirén zhèngzài qìngzhù Guāngmíngjié 。Guāngmíngjié shì Yóutàirén de chuántǒng jiérì ，yīgòng chíxù bā tiān 。měiféng Guāngmíngjié ，měi jiā dōu huì diǎn yī zhǒng dēngtái ，shàngmian chā zhe jiǔ gēn làzhú 。zài dì yī ge wǎnshang ，xiān diǎnrán zhōngjiān de làzhú ，ránhòu yòng zhōngjiān de làzhú diǎnrán dì yī zhī làzhú ，zhīhòu de měi yī tiān zài duō diǎn yī zhī 。
Welcome to our program, everyone. Right now, Jewish people all over the world are in the process of celebrating 'the festival of lights', or Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a traditional Jewish holiday. Altogether, it continues for 8 days. Every Hanukkah, every family lights 9 candles inserted in a candle stand. On the first night, the central candle is lit. Afterwards, the central candle is used to light the first candle. Every day after that, another candle is lit on each day.
点那么多蜡烛，真是“光明”啊！那为什么光明节要持续8天呢？
diǎn nàme duō làzhú ，zhēn shì “guāngmíng ”a ！nà wèishénme Guāngmíngjié yào chíxù bā tiān ne ？
Lighting so many candles - it really is the festival of lights! Why does Hanukkah go on for 8 days then?
这个啊，是为了纪念犹太历史上的一个奇迹。很久以前，犹太人被叙利亚人统治。后来他们打败了敌人。就在他们想祭神的时候，发现圣殿里点灯的油只够用一天了，但灯台却持续亮了八天。犹太人认为这是神在保佑他们。
zhè ge a ，shì wèile jìniàn Yóutài lìshǐ shàng de yī ge qíjì 。hěnjiǔ yǐqián ，Yóutàirén bèi Xùlìyàrén tǒngzhì 。hòulái tāmen dǎbài le dírén 。jiù zài tāmen xiǎng jìshén de shíhou ，fāxiàn shèngdiàn lǐ diǎn dēng de yóu zhǐ gòu yòng yī tiān le ，dàn dēngtái què chíxù liàng le bā tiān 。Yóutàirén rènwéi zhè shì shén zài bǎoyòu tāmen 。
Well, it's done in order to commemorate a miracle that occurred in Jewish history. A long time ago, the Jews were ruled by the Syrians. In the end, they defeated their enemies. Just as they wanted to make an offering, they realized that there was only enough oil in the temple for one day, yet the candle stayed lit for 8 days. The Jews believe this was their God blessing them.
哦，原来是这样。据说在最困难的时候，犹太人冒着生命危险也要点燃灯台。这就是他们的信仰。
ò ，yuánlái shì zhèyàng 。jùshuō zài zuì kùnnan de shíhou ，Yóutàirén mào zhe shēngmìng wēixiǎn yě yào diǎnrán dēngtái 。zhè jiùshì tāmen de xìnyǎng 。
Oh, so that's what it's all about. I heard that even in the most difficult of times, even when they are at risk of losing their lives, they still have to light the candles. This is their belief.
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