For me as a writer across all kinds of genres and disciplines, whether it’s screenwriting or literary fiction or obscene fake children’s books,

对于我 一个涉及各种类别及知识领域的作家来说 无论是剧本创作 文学小说 还是让人受不了的冒牌儿童书籍

humor is always one of the most important tools in my palette.

幽默总是最重要的添加写作色彩的工具之一

There are things that you can get people to come to the table on if you make them laugh that they’ll never sign on for if you don’t.

如果你能让人们开怀大笑 你的作品就能吸引读者 如若不然 他们永远不会买你的书

It’s always a problem to be too pedantic to hit people over the head,

过于迂腐而无法给人当头棒喝始终是个问题

so, things like satire and absurdity are both important ways to engage and start a conversation,

那么 比如像讽刺和荒诞行为 二者对吸引读者和交流 都是重要的方式

and also, fundamentally at this point critical ways to look at the world.

基本上 就这点来说 它们也是看待这个世界极其重要的方式

And I think all of those things are heightened when you’re dealing with faith because it’s so divisive, it’s so important to people,

而且我觉得 当你涉及到信仰 所有那些事情都更重要了 因为它对人们太重要了 太容易制造分歧

and at the same time, feelings and tensions around it also run incredibly high.

与此同时 情感与矛盾也会被激化

So, for me, you know, with “Haggadah” in particular, and some of the other work I’ve done in the past,

所以 对我而言 你知道 特别是 《哈加达》 以及一些我以前完成的作品

around faith, around Judaism, around religion as an identity and something that gets weaponized and something that people pick up and put down as they see fit and as they need to, you know.

把围绕信仰、犹太主义、宗教 作为一种特征 也作为某种能变成武器的东西 某种人们会在自认为合适及必要的时候能拿得起 也能放得下的保护自身的武器

The Jewish community, the Jewish faith is an interesting one because you can be Jewish without being religious.

犹太教团体 犹太信仰非常有意思 因为你可以是不虔诚的犹太人

You can be Jewish without believing in anything.

你也可以是没有信仰的犹太人

You find Jews who say shit like, “I’m Jewish, but I’m Buddhist.”

你会发现有犹太人会说出“我是犹太人 但我是佛教徒”

Like Episcopalians don’t say shit like that. Do you know what I mean?

但如果像圣公会教徒 就不会说出这样的话 你懂我的意思吧？

For me as somebody who grew up culturally Jewish but in a very secular family and household and community,

以我来讲 自小受犹太文化熏陶 但却在一个非常世俗非宗教的家庭和社区中长大

Judaism in particular has margins that are wide and very well-populated in the sense that there are many ways to be like alienated from the faith

特别是犹太教，它定义模糊，人口众多，有很多方法可以让你与信仰疏远，

and yet not want to separate yourself entirely.

但又不会完全分离~D#lU@,Hc4A3P。

And in my mind, that’s really where all the good art comes from, is the margins of any community,

在我心里 那是所有优秀艺术的来源 是任何社会团体的边缘部分

the people who feel like they have one foot in and one foot out.

来源于那些像是犹太人但又不太像的人们

The people who feel invested yet not entirely accepted, et cetera.

这些觉得自己投入了 但内心并非完全接受的人们等等

When I look at the Jewish artists in particular that I connect with, who resonate with me,

特别是当我看到我认识的 与我能产生共鸣的犹太艺术家们

you know, I find folks like Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Norman Mailer.

我发现像兰尼·布鲁斯 伍迪·艾伦 菲利普·罗斯福 伯纳德·马拉默德 诺曼·梅勒这些人

None of these people were like hardcore in the bosom of Judaism.

都不是在犹太教怀抱中的骨干力量

They all felt that sense of marginality, of alienation, and that’s where the pain and thus the art come from.

他们都有着那种边缘感、异类感 这就是痛苦所在 因而也是艺术的源泉

So I think humor plays directly into that. You have to have a sense of humor about it.

所以 我认为幽默发挥了直接作用 你要对那种痛苦有种幽默感

You have to explore the fissures and the ways in which faith is observed,

你要探索这些裂缝和信仰被遵守的方式

the ways in which constructing any community on this arbitrary set of ancient principles that folks may or may not even invest in in the current day and age.

以及探索那些在任意一套古老法则的基础上构建任何社会共同体的方式 那是现代人们可能会 也可能不会投入的方式

There’s something hilarious about that.

有些地方也挺可笑的

And the part of the Jewish tradition in particular that I connect with is the idea of arguing about everything incessantly forever,

特别是与我深深联结的犹太族的传统部分 即对任何事情永远都辩论不休的想法

and the sensibility and the humor that have allowed folks to persevere through a lot of horrible shit throughout the centuries and maintain some grace in the face of all that.

以及让所有人度过了至暗时刻 坚持了几个世纪 还能在这个过程中保持优雅的情感和幽默

So for me, ultimately Judaism comes down to the jokes.

所以对我来说 犹太主义说到底就是它的幽默性