猶太成人禮

楊宇宸

兩年前，我收到了一位猶太朋友寄來的“成人禮邀請函”。

來到教堂后，我和朋友們在中間的一排坐了下來。我發現座位上安放著兩本書。其中一本的封面上印刷著英語和希伯來語，寫著“塔納赫（Tanakh）”，意思是希伯來《圣經》；另一本只有希伯來語。

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.

典禮開始。一男一女走上舞臺，用英語簡單地介紹了本次成人禮儀式。我的朋友——那個猶太女孩——也走上了舞臺。接著，女人開始用希伯來語唱起歌來，男人的聲音也加入進來。唱完歌，女主持人幫助我的朋友取出一卷名為“托拉”的巨大卷軸，上面載有猶太人必須遵守的戒律。

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.

她雙手捧著卷軸，緩緩走進觀眾席。當她走近時，人們輕輕地碰碰她或卷軸，以此祝福她。接下來的四十多分鐘，她用希伯來語朗讀卷軸上的內容，其他人看著自己手中的書，跟隨她朗讀文字。

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.

典禮的尾聲，我的朋友發表了有關成人禮的演講，然后她的父母也發表了演講，并贈予她慶祝成人的禮物。最后，客人們一起分享了代表祝福的葡萄汁和面包。

這是一個令人難忘的儀式，我們親眼目睹了一位猶太少女翻開了她人生的新篇章——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.