论犹太人的尚异性

On the Particularism of Jews

尚异是犹太人的特性。它蕴藏在犹太教的基本信仰和教义里,体现在犹太人的生活方式、思维方式以及历史和现实中。犹太人在各个领域的杰出成就与其尚异特性有密切联系,同时,其悲惨遭遇也在一定程度上与之有关。犹太人求异、尚异的目的在于使犹太教区别于异教,并借以使犹太人区别于异族。犹太人之所以尚异,并能特立独行于世,在理论上源于圣经里自由、平等的价值,最终源于与众不同的唯一神信仰。揭示犹太人的尚异特性对于普遍具有尚同意识的中国人有着特别重要的意义。

Particularism is a feature of the Jews.It is contained in the basic faith and doctrines of Judaism and manifested in the life style,thinking pattern,history and reality of the Jewish people.The prominence shown by Jews in various fields has a lot to do with this particularism.At the same time,it has contributed to a certain degree to the miseries and sufferings of the people.The purpose of particularism is to draw a line between Judaism and other religions,thus separating Jews from gentiles.Particularism of the Jews and their insistence upon conducting themselves differently from other peoples in the world are theoretically rooted in the values of freedom and equality in the Bible,and can be traced back ultimately to a particular monotheism.To understand the particularism of the Jews can be of great importance for the Chinese people who generally uphold universalism.