64 38
AUGUST 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Israel Today
A Grandmother’s Tears By Rafi Sackville
ask them: in their capacity as midwives in Hadassah Ein Kerem, how many births had they collectively been in attendance at over the course of their working lives? After their initial answer of “too many to number,” they conferred and settled on what they considered a reasonable answer which, they insisted, was probably too low. The accepted definition of midwifery, that it is “the profession or practice of assisting women in child-
S TO
MER S
E
R
CE VI
S RIE TE
VI
R
CERTIFIED BARRE GRANITE
SE
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED
CU
WE
על כל צרה שלא תבא
BES T
I
n the summer of 2013, only two weeks after we’d come back to Israel, we attended the wedding of Shai and Moran Shiller. I taught Shai in the mid-1990s. During that time, he worked after school in my wife’s business. Before long, we had become friendly with his parents, Eti and Motti. At one point during the wedding meal I joined Eti and her colleagues. Above the din of music in the wedding hall I had one tantalizing question to
CE
ALL CE
M
E
WE REFURBISH OLD MONUMENTS
WE DUPLICATE EXISTING MONUMENTS
WE DO HOUSE CALLSTExt
נוסח המציבה as part of
ביום שמעמידים מצבה מכניסים את הנפטר לגן עדן וקרובים של הנפטר שבגן עדן אומרים לו וכיון שנכנס.מזל טוב .אין מוציאין אותו
Wala Marketing | 212.365.0812
ALL SIZES - CUSTOM DESIGNS AVAILABLE
WE SPECIALIZE IN HEBREW/ENGLISH NAMES & TEXT - נוסח המצבה
[ספר הדרת קודש בשם הג''ר אברהם אליעזר זאב אלט זצ''ל ]אבד''ק קובערסדארף
מצבות SUNDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY 12:00 PM 5:00 PM OR CALL ANYTIME FOR AN APPOINTMENT
WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS
birth,” fails to capture the work of these professionals. It is clear from a recent conversation I had with Eti that her work encompasses a good deal more than providing assistance to women giving birth. I wanted to know more about the challenges she faces as a midwife in Israel today. She admits it was her childhood dream to become a midwife. “I was 10 years old,” she recalls, “and despite not understanding what midwifery meant, I decided then that I wanted to do it.” It was a long time before Eti actually became a midwife. For years, she
For example, the hospital won’t stand in the way of women who wish to experience delivery in water or who refuse medication. She describes the atmosphere in the maternity ward as calm. “Over the years, we midwives have taken greater control of the birthing process,” she says. “We have the freedom of decision-making. Of course, if a situation requires it, we will consult with the doctors on staff.” This seemingly contradicts what Eti sees as the greatest change in the field over the last 20 years: medical intervention. This follows a similar pattern to America, where playing
LARGE SELECTION OF CANDLE BOXES
BUY DIRECT FROM MANUFACTURER
WE ACCOMMODATE ON TIME FOR SHIVA - שבעהAND SHLOSHIM - שלושים
Eti Shiller, 2nd from right, with her colleagues at Hadassah Ein Kerem
1014 BROADWAY, WOODMERE, NY 11598
516.423.2477
STEINDELMONUMENTS@GMAIL.COM
שומר שבת
At all births there are two patients: one they can talk to and the other they cannot see.
worked as a nurse in intensive care. Then, at the age of 45, she was able to fulfill her dream. She worked for years in Asaf HaRofeh Hospital before moving to Hadassah Ein Kerem almost 10 years ago. Eti is proud of the work she and her colleagues do at Hadassah. In particular, she feels the hospital has taken a positive approach to those independent women who wish to experience birth a little outside the norm.
safe with the use of medicine mitigates the possibility of lawsuits. Eti says the greatest challenge of a midwife is the fact that at all births there are two patients: one they can talk to and the other they cannot see. Dealing with babies about to enter the world is akin to dealing with a patient from behind a closed door. “It’s a huge challenge to make certain we make the correct decision for the baby, especially when we are faced with women who are deter-
