Breaking With Ritua

SomeJews believe
circumcision
causes lingering
physical and
emotion

/

JILL DAVIDSON - SKLAR
Special to The Jewish News

IV

hen Cheryl Resnick
Ettinger married, she
wanted to cram as
much Jewish tradition
into her wedding ceremony as
possible.
There were the seven brachot, a
chuppah and a kosher ketubah. Not
bad for a girl raised in a relatively
non-traditional home.
"At the time of my marriage, I was

experiencing a religious rebirth," said
Ettinger, a Southfield resident. "I
went to great steps to make our
wedding as traditional as possible. I
saw it as a way to start our Jewish
life together."
And when she gave birth to her
first son, she continued along the
spiritual path, hiring a mohel and
hosting a traditional brit milah
ceremony in the home.
So Ettinger was surprised by her
feelings with the impending birth of
her second son two years later. A

difficult labor, questionable
medication levels and a seemingly
unnecessary C-section had forced a
brief hospitalization for her first
child. She resolved to have a
midwife-assisted home birth and no
medication with the birth of her
second child.
"My first child's birth in and of
itself was a change. It prompted a
process of changing and questioning
everything," Ettinger said.
Everything, including ritual
circumcision. She began to see the

