Wrong Number
打錯的電話
Oh no, Martha needs even more surgery? My father questioned after hearing from the staff in the synagogue's office. My father is a rabbi and Martha is a friend to many in the office.
“噢，不！馬莎還需要再做手術？”爸爸從猶太教堂辦公室的工作人員那裡聽說了這件事之後問道。爸爸是一位拉比（猶太人的學者），而馬莎和猶太教堂辦公室裡的很多工作人員都是朋友。
Furthermore, the physician told Martha that he wanted to wait a few months for the next surgery. Therefore, my father asked his secretary to find Martha's home number so he could call and say a prayer for her.
而且醫生告訴馬莎，說他想等幾個月之後再為她做下一次手術。因此爸爸請他的祕書找出馬莎家的電話號碼，好讓他能給馬莎打打電話、做祈禱。
And that is exactly what happened. Every week my father would call Martha and get a "generic " answering-machine message. He would say the same prayer: "Be strong and always have courage." My father never heard back from Martha. But he hoped she was resting easily with his prayers.
爸爸完全說到做到了。爸爸每週都會給馬莎打電話，聽到的總是一條通用答錄機留言。每次他都會說同樣的祈禱詞：“願你堅強起來，永遠勇氣十足！”然而爸爸從沒接到過馬莎的回電，但他期望自己的祈禱能讓她放鬆心情，好好休息。
One week, my father called, and again he received the same generic answering-machine message. However, instead of saying the same prayer,my father, for some reason, decided on another scriptural prayer: "Whenever I have problems, I call unto God and He answers me." Again, my father received no immediate response from Martha. But this time my father added one more sentence: "If you can call me, please call," and he included his phone number.
在某一週，爸爸打了電話，結果又聽到了那條相同的通用答錄機留言。然而出於某種原因，爸爸沒有重複之前的祈禱詞，而是決定用聖經中的另一句祈禱詞：“無論何時遇到問題，我都會向上帝祈禱， 他會給我答案。”同樣，爸爸並沒有即刻收到馬莎的答覆。但這次爸爸又加了一句“如果可以的話，請給我回電”，並留下了自己的電話號碼。
Two weeks later, my father received a "unique" phone call. "Rabbi Segal, you have no idea who I am, but every week for over a month you've called and left the same prayer for me on my answering-machine. I truly appreciated it very much as my neck and shoulders have been hurting me for so long. I never called you back until today because you never left your number. However, your second scriptural blessing, 'Whenever I have problems, I call unto God and He answers me', left an impression on me, causing me to drop to my knees, turn to God, and emotionally say, 'God, I need Your help.' Surprisingly, after a few minutes, I felt that I 'heard' a response from the Lord and He told me, 'Go to another Doctor.'"
兩週以後，爸爸接到了一個“不同尋常的”電話。“西格爾拉比，您並不知道我是誰。但一個多月以來，您每週都給我打電話，還在答錄機裡為我留下相同的祈禱詞。對此我真的很感激，因為我的脖子和肩膀已經疼了很長時間。我直到今天才給您回電話，是因為您從來沒有留下過電話號碼。然而，您的第二條祈禱詞‘無論何時遇到問題，我都會向上帝祈禱，他會給我答案’給我留下了印象。所以我跪下來， 向上帝求助，虔誠地說，‘上帝啊，我需要您的幫助’。神奇的是，幾分鐘後，我感覺我‘聽’到了主的聖音，他對我說，‘換一個醫生吧。’”
Rabbi, I just got back from the new physician. Hearing my issues and my medications he calmly explained that I was taking the wrong medication and gave me the correct one. Miraculously, my pain is gone. Without your phone message, I would still be in miserable pain. God bless you!
“拉比，我剛從我的新醫生那裡回來，他聽了我的病情和所用的藥物後，很冷靜地向我解釋說我之前吃錯了藥，然後給我開了對症的藥。現在我的疼痛竟奇蹟般地消失了。如果沒有您的電話留言，我現在恐怕仍在疼痛中煎熬。願上帝保佑您！”
My father obviously had been calling the wrong number ... Sorry, Martha.
很顯然爸爸之前都撥錯了號碼……很抱歉，馬莎。
I smiled as I imagined my father thinking, "Was it really a wrong phone number?" I guess one will never truly know!
想象著爸爸納悶“那號碼真的是錯的嗎？”的樣子，我笑了。我猜沒人會知道真正的答案。