1) Best culture/festival events in Israel.

以色列的节日文化?

First, I want to say that I love the fact that I was interviewed by a cultural radio show because you know Israel is very well known for the start-up nation, the hub for innovation and technology, but I bet you didn’t know that we have about two hundred museums which is the highest in the world for capital. We also have a sale in book publishing. Every year, we have more than one thousand book originally published per every million residents which is considerably the size of Hong Kong, seven million roughly, will be seven thousand original books written in Hebrew. So that's why we are often referred as the people of the book, not only because of the bible, but also the book publishing in Israel. Literature prose, poems, philosophy, this is excel. So one of the major festivals in Israel would be the festival of Jerusalem which will be in every spring, the end of May and June. It’s three weeks of all major performances and art, concluded with the book fair of Jerusalem. So it's a combination of art, theatre, music, drama and contemporary dance within the three weeks. This is a major international event that combines the heritage and best explanation about Israel that all ancient Jewish tradition and heritage with the Israeli contemporary creative spices.

首先,我非常开心能够接受电台文化节目的访问,因为你知道以色列是新创企业之国,作为创新与科技汇聚之地而闻名。但我打赌你不知道我们其实有超过二百个博物馆,是全世界首都之最。 而且我们也有书本印刷的销售,每年我们每一百万居民之中就有 一千本版印刷书籍,相对于香港七百万人口,就等于了出版七千本希伯来文书籍。这就是为什么我们被称为书本的人类 ,不单止是圣经印刷,也有其他不同种类,例如文学、诗歌、哲学等。而其中一个重要的以色列节日就是耶路撒冷节,通常在春天的结尾,大概在五至六月举行。这三星期的艺术表演,结合了舞台剧、音乐、现代舞蹈。这节日最能代表同时包含犹太人传统及现代创意火花的以色列。

2) Will there be a lot of tourists?

会否有很多游客慕名而来?

Yeah, that’s a lot of tourists for not only that, but also many cultural events in Masada which is a major pilgrimage site in the dead sea. There is always a big opera production every year outside in the old fortress of Masada. It's a more contemporary cultural event, but of course we have Jewish festival that also celebrates everywhere, including HK. At the end of December, we will be celebrating a festival called Hanukkah. It's Hanukia like a chandelier, which is a sample of some of the instruments we are using. The festival itself lasts about eight days, each day we use the tallest candle to raise the other candle, until we reach eight candles. Hanukkah is the festival of light.

无错,但很多游客的原因不单只是如此,是因为同样有很多文化活动在位于死海附近的朝圣之地-马萨达举行, 每年在马萨达的旧堡垒外都会有歌剧表演。这个表演相对较为现代化,但我们同时在世界各地,包括香港亦有庆祝犹太人的节日,例如在十二月尾举行的哈努卡节, 这处看见的哈努卡节灯枱就是庆祝所用的器具,节日长达八天,每一天我们都会用最长的灯盏点燃另一支灯盏,直至八支灯盏全部点亮。所以哈努卡节亦有光明节的意思。

3) It’s celebrated on certain dates of December?

这个节日只会在十二月中的某些日子庆祝?

Jewish calendar is actually like the Chinese calendar. It's according to the agricultural season. It's a lunar calendar so it changes every year. It's always in December. In this December in 2019, so we will start celebrate on the 22nd, so it is very close to Christmas.

犹太人日历其实与中国日历相近,同样是根据收成季节而定。因为是阴历,所以每年庆祝的日子都会不同。但通常都会在十二月中举行,例如在二零一九年的十二月,我们就会在第二十二日庆祝,非常邻近圣诞节。

These are the typical toys for children to play in Hanukkah called Dreidel. We have competitions of how long your dreidel can last.

而这些就是儿童的玩具陀螺,我们更有比赛测试你的陀螺能旋转多久。

4) Are there any other festivals you want to mention too?

还有什么节日可以介绍给我们?

As I mentioned the Jewish new year which is a significant event in our calendar, usually celebrated during the month of September or early October. This year we celebrate in the late of September, like the Chinese new year that every year is different. After that, we have a series holidays according to Jewish calendar. But I want to mention only the fun one which is especially for kids, except the Hanukkah which is also for a lot of children, we have Purim. Purim is based on the scroll of Esther, also a biblical scroll. We commemorate the saving of the Jews from the hand of Haman, an evil person, ruler who wanted to kill all the Jewish in the kingdom. So we do a lot of parade costumes, it’s like Halloween but with scary faces. If you come to Israel, you will see parade on the street with children and adults, with funny, traditional original costume and the best feature in this holiday is actually a mask. It's a mandatory thing to drink until you don't know, it means you really have to celebrate on that night.

正如我先前提到,犹太人新年是我们很重要的节日,通常都会在九月或十月初期举行,而今年就会在九月尾庆祝,就好像中国新年每年的日期也会不同。根据犹太日历,我们还会有一连串的假期庆祝。此外,我想特别提及很适合小朋友,而且十分有趣的节日,除了哈努卡节外,就有这个普珥节。普珥节来源于旧约圣经中的「以斯帖记」, 以纪念犹太人在邪恶大臣哈曼的灭族计划中幸存, 所以我们会做很多巡游表演衣服,就好像万圣节带恐怖面具一样 。如果你来到以色列,就会见到大人及小朋友穿着搞笑或传统的服装,并带着面具在街上巡游表演。而且另一样当晚必做的事就是饮酒,还要饮得尽兴。

5) How's your feeling to HK for living in two years?

居港两年的你对香港有何感受?

First of all, I would like to mention that I feel very welcome in HK, I was expecting this mission for a long time because I am a graduate in International and Chinese studies in Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I have learnt Mandarin and never practice. Since then, I went to Chinese region and I finally got here and two more years to go. My family here all feel very nice and welcome and it's a comfortable place.

首先,我在香港受到热烈欢迎对待,我已期待这项领事任务很久,因为我本身是希伯来大学的国际及中国研究学系毕业生,我学懂了如何说普通话但从来未有机会练习。自此,我就来到中国区域并终于有机会在香港担任任期余下两年的领事,我的家人亦受到热烈欢迎,而且居住在香港感到很舒服。

6) What do you like the best here?

你最喜欢香港的什么?

Actually I think HK is one of the most unique cities in the sense of scenery. The combination of a bustling city, with skyscrapers, but with the sea and harbour, and the mountain and jungle so you see green and blue and buildings all mixed together, so the combination is very unique. Also, in the sense of scenery, I love to just stroll around the streets of HK, mainly the market, the Chinese New Year market is the best, like the Wan Chai Wet Market with all the decorations and I feel so alive.

其实我觉得香港作为独特的城市,最吸引的地方就是其壮丽景观。繁华的都市,布满着摩天大厦,但同时间又有大海、海港,山脉和丛林,海天一色与石屎森林融为一体,所以这个结合非常独特。此外,我亦喜欢在香港街头流连,尤其是街市,新年市场是我最喜欢的,例如湾仔布满着装饰的街市,令我感到生气勃勃。

7) Have you tried dim sum?

你有否尝过点心?

I don't eat pork, sometimes it's a challenge, but I do like the Chinese food. Tea and dim sum are my favorites. I actually adopted some local habits, like drinking only hot water and tea.

我不吃猪肉,所以有时吃点心对我来说是一个挑战。但我亦很喜欢中式美食,尤其是中国茶与点心,都是我的最爱。我也学会了本地人的习惯,例如只喜欢饮热水和热茶。

8) Please introduce the national flower of Israel.

请介绍一下以色列的国花?

We don't have a public national flower, we have a national flower by vote. But as a national symbol, we actually have the olive leaf, which is the olive tree. From the national emblem, we see the olive branches that symbolize peace in our tradition and this is also the way to greet people. We say “Shalom” and it signifies peace. So this is the combination to show our love and greeting for peace in our land.

我们没有一种大众的国花,只有透过投票选出的国花。不过作为国家的代表,橄榄叶和橄榄树就是我们的国花,从国徽中我们可以见到橄榄树的枝叶象征着和平 ,我们向人打招呼时会说“Shalom”,亦代表着带来平安,所以橄榄树象征着爱与和平。

9) Any trendy slang?

俚语介绍?

Slang is actually a lot and complicated. If you come to Israel, two major words except “Shalom” which is the greeting. You need two words , one is “Sababa”, which means excellent, the best and you can say on everything, like please come, “Sabababa”, how was the restaurant, “Sababa”. Another word which is opposite meaning, is “Balagan”, its means mess and chaotic. You can say how is the traffic, “Balagan”, how's your apartment and the office, its “Balagan”.

俚语其实有很多,并且颇为复杂。当你来到以色列时,有两个重要词语作打招呼用,第一个是“Sababa”,意思是厉害,你可以应用在不同埸景,例如这间餐厅感觉如何,「厉害」,另一个相反的词语就是“Balagan”,意思是指混乱、糟糕,例如可以形容交通、写字楼或公司等。

以色列驻港澳总领事Ahuva Spieler、夏妙然博士
以色列驻港澳总领事Ahuva Spieler、夏妙然博士