梁軍+

hen I worked in a Jewish nursing home, I learned the true meaning of the Jewish national fund blue box. A blue box is not just a box into which coins are put. It is the repository of dreams, prayers and efforts of generations of Jews.

One day, to stimulate memories among the participants in my group, I brought a tray of objects. I set out a pair of small candlesticks, a couple of seashells, a lace-edged, monogrammed handkerchief, a blue box, and other odds and ends on the tray and passed it around.

The residents would finger the objects, then pass the tray on. When their turn came, theyd share a personal anecdote that one of the objects had brought to mind.

That day, an aide had brought Clara to the group. Clara had suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on one side and somewhat aphasic: She understood language but had trouble finding the correct words when she wanted to speak.

Clara did not take her disabilities with grace. She was angry, hostile and disruptive. Storytelling was the most inappropriate activity of all, for it focused attention on her language disability. But there she was, and I was too busy with the rest of the group to wheel Clara back into the hall. I just hoped that Clara wouldnt raise too much of a ruckus.

When the tray went around the room, Clara grabbed the blue box in her good hand and clasped it to her chest, refusing to relinquish it. Although no one else took an object off the tray, there were grumbles from the other participants. “Anyone can tell a story about any object—these or any others,” I said. The grumbles died down. Then the stories began. One woman told how the seashells reminded her of going to the beach every summer as a child. Another described the lacy handkerchief she carried when she eloped with a soldier on the eve of World War Ⅱ. The next person was Clara, but the person behind her, knowing Clara never participated in a group, cleared her throat. Clara waved the blue box and said, “Mine, mine.” Another old woman, a former social worker, said, “Clara wants to speak!” Clara nodded, and the room became silent.

Slowly, haltingly, Clara began her story. Often she said something that made no sense. Other old ladies had told their memories in two or three sentences, but in spite of her laborious method of storytelling, Clara told her story in detail.

Her son was six, she said, when World War Ⅱ was over and the news of concentration camps became public. Clara, a young Boston housewife, was devastated, although all her family was already in America. Her heart ached for the survivors, crammed into displaced persons camps, and she wanted to help. After much thought, she made a plan. Every afternoon, when her son came home from school, she would take him by one hand with her blue box in the other hand, and she would collect money for Israel. Clara went door to door through the Jewish neighborhoods, and everyone gave. But she couldnt just stop, so she started going through other neighborhoods. “The Irish and the Italians and the Greeks, everyone gave.”

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“They said, ‘I feel so bad for your people. Thank you for giving me a chance to help.” Clara told the group that for two years, until the birth of her second child was imminent, she and her son went out almost every day to collect money for Israel, money to bring the survivors home to their new land.

When Clara finished, the room was silent. Her painfully told, detailed account had brought those days back clearly in everyones mind. Suddenly one old woman began to clap, and then applause filled the room. Clara nodded at the group, and the side of her mouth that could move curved into a smile.

That night, Clara had another stroke, one that left her completely unable to speak. But in my eyes and those of the other people who had been in that room that day, Clara never again looked like the mere wreck of a woman. Instead, we saw the vibrant soul of a woman who cared.

當(dāng)時(shí)在一家猶太人療養(yǎng)院工作，在那兒我了解到猶太人建國(guó)基金籌款盒的真實(shí)意義。這個(gè)藍(lán)色的籌款盒不只是我們投放善款的盒子。它其實(shí)是一個(gè)夢(mèng)想和愿望的儲(chǔ)存庫(kù)，還承載著幾代猶太人的艱辛努力。

那天，為了勾起我們小組參與者的記憶，講出他們往日的故事，我端出一盤(pán)物件。我在盤(pán)中擺了一對(duì)小巧的蠟燭架、一對(duì)海貝殼、一條帶有花邊且繡有名字的手帕、一個(gè)藍(lán)色籌款盒和其他零碎物件，然后將盤(pán)子遞給組員并傳遞下去。

療養(yǎng)院中的老人們用手指觸摸著這些物件，然后將盤(pán)子傳遞給旁邊的人，當(dāng)盤(pán)子傳到每個(gè)人的手中時(shí)，總會(huì)有一個(gè)物件勾起他們的回憶。他們就會(huì)講一則有關(guān)此物件的軼事。

那天，一個(gè)助理把克萊拉帶到我們的活動(dòng)小組中?？巳R拉中過(guò)一次風(fēng)，之后半身癱瘓，而且患上某種失語(yǔ)癥：她聽(tīng)得懂別人的話，但當(dāng)她想表達(dá)自己的意思時(shí)卻很難找到合適的語(yǔ)言。

克萊拉很在意自己的殘疾。她易怒、對(duì)人不禮貌并且愛(ài)搗亂。而且，基于她運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言的障礙，講故事對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)真是個(gè)非常不合適的活動(dòng)。但是她已經(jīng)來(lái)了，而且我在忙于照顧小組的其他成員，我不能把克萊拉推回到大廳去。我只是希望她不要太過(guò)分，造成喧鬧。

當(dāng)盤(pán)子在組員們中傳遞時(shí)，克萊拉用她能動(dòng)的那只手拿起了那個(gè)藍(lán)色籌款盒，并將之緊貼在胸前，不想放手。由于其他人都沒(méi)有從盤(pán)子里拿走物件，其他組員稍有微詞，表示不滿?！懊總€(gè)人都可以講一個(gè)與任何物件——盤(pán)中或其他物件有關(guān)的故事?！蔽艺f(shuō)。抱怨聲漸漸消失了，然后大家開(kāi)始講故事。一位婦女說(shuō)，海貝殼使她想起了還是孩子的時(shí)候，每個(gè)夏天都會(huì)去海灘。另一位講述說(shuō)，花邊手帕使她想起在二戰(zhàn)前夕，她與一名士兵私奔時(shí)也帶著一條這樣的手帕。下一個(gè)輪到克萊拉了，但是排在克萊拉后面的那個(gè)人知道她從未參加過(guò)任何小組活動(dòng)，所以她清了清嗓子，準(zhǔn)備發(fā)言。但克萊拉搖了搖那個(gè)籌款盒，說(shuō)：“我，該我了?！绷硪粋€(gè)老婦（以前曾是個(gè)社工），喊道：“克萊拉想發(fā)言！”克萊拉點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，房間里都安靜了下來(lái)。

克萊拉慢慢地、結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地講起了她的故事。在講故事期間，她經(jīng)常會(huì)說(shuō)出一些說(shuō)不通的句子。其他老婦一般用兩三句就講完了她們的回憶，但是，盡管講故事對(duì)克萊拉來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)費(fèi)力的事，她還是堅(jiān)持講出了故事的每個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)。

她說(shuō)，當(dāng)時(shí)她兒子六歲，正是二戰(zhàn)結(jié)束的時(shí)候，集中營(yíng)已是眾所周知了?？巳R拉住在波士頓，是一位年輕的家庭婦女。盡管她所有的家人都已經(jīng)來(lái)到了美國(guó)，她還是很悲傷，為那些擠在難民營(yíng)中的幸存者感到心痛，希望能夠幫助他們。經(jīng)過(guò)一番考慮之后，她想出了個(gè)計(jì)劃。每天下午，等她兒子從學(xué)校放學(xué)回家，她就一手牽著兒子，一手拿著藍(lán)色籌款盒，為以色列建國(guó)籌款。克萊拉挨家挨戶地拜訪周?chē)莫q太人家庭，每個(gè)人都有捐贈(zèng)。但是她并不滿足于此，她又到更遠(yuǎn)的街區(qū)去籌款?！皭?ài)爾蘭人、意大利人，還有希臘人，每個(gè)人都有捐贈(zèng)?！?/p>

“那些人對(duì)我說(shuō)：‘我十分同情你們猶太人。謝謝你給我這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)提供幫助。”克萊拉告訴大家。直到她第二個(gè)孩子即將出世，有兩年時(shí)間，她和她兒子幾乎每天都要出去為以色列籌集善款，這些錢(qián)最后用來(lái)幫助幸存者來(lái)到他們新的祖國(guó)。

當(dāng)克萊拉講完后，房間里鴉雀無(wú)聲。她吃力而又詳盡的敘述，將那往昔的日子清晰地展現(xiàn)在我們每個(gè)人的腦海中。突然有一個(gè)老婦開(kāi)始鼓掌，隨后掌聲響徹整個(gè)房間?？巳R拉向組員們點(diǎn)頭示意，她那能移動(dòng)的半邊嘴巴綻放出笑容。

那天晚上，克萊拉又中了一次風(fēng)，她完全不能說(shuō)話了。但是在我和其他那些聽(tīng)她講述過(guò)那個(gè)故事的人的眼中，她不再是個(gè)殘疾的女人。相反，我們看到的是那個(gè)有活力、有愛(ài)心的女人。

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