Singles Connection
INDEX OF THIS ISSUE

FEATURES
     My father, the rabbi
     Israeli musicians also have military strings attached
VALLEY
     Har Zion plans expansion at new facility
     Applicants sought for Belle Latchman Award
NATION
     Colleagues, family recall life of N.Y. writer Kazin
     Clinton Mideast stance angers U.S. Arabs
     Reform rabbis revisit 'patrilineal' policy
WORLD
     Swiss banks face boycott threat as talks stall
     Group considers plans for preserving Auschwitz
ISRAEL
     Western Wall at center of pluralism battle
     Police raid right-wing radio station
     Hamas invited to join Arafat's reshuffled Cabinet
OPINION
     Editorial - Thanks, Dad
     Letters to the Editor - In the Mail - 6/19/1998
     Marty Latz - Stage characters offer lessons for real families
     Commentary - Witness to an execution
ARTS
     AJHS remembers 'The Way We Were' with traveling exhibit
BUSINESS
     Hillel receives furniture gift
GETTING ALONG
     Nancy P. Brody, Ph.D. - Kids follow rules they help write
TORAH STUDY
     God wants partners

HOME PAGE

Thanks, Dad

Editorial

In the incredibly complex landscape of contemporary family relations, "thank you" can speak volumes. The morphing of the traditional two-parent family into numerous permutations, either by choice or circumstance, has blurred gender roles and transformed parenting to very much a joint venture.

For many families, the change has been wonderfully beneficial. When mothers and fathers share the work of raising children and the financial responsibility of the household, their partnership often becomes more equitable and satisfying. Women, relieved of full-time care-giving, can pursue professional fulfillment and financial compensation; men, relieved of the burden of being the sole providers, can participate more fully in the day-to-day activity that bonds parent to child.

And so dads now pencil in carpool schedules as well as business meetings, rush from the office to the ball field, from the airport to bar mitzvah practice. They pack school lunches in the mornings and come home to dirty laundry at night. They are there to comfort a sick child and help with algebra homework, to celebrate success and assuage disappointment. When soccer dads are there to cheer side-by-side with soccer moms, everyone wins.

Yet, change can be exceedingly difficult, and undoing convention has cast some dads in strange new roles. Many, struggling to juggle the demands of a stressful, often insecure workplace alongside escalating family responsibilities, feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Others, trying to understand and internalize changes in traditional roles, become angry and frustrated. They are mapping uncharted territory and confronting additional pressures and often unrealistic expectations.

In this fast changing world, being a dad has become ever more challenging - and potentially more rewarding. What dads need from their families, on this Father's Day, June 21, and every day, is heaps of encouragement and understanding, lots of hugs and kisses - plus two little words: "Thanks, Dad."

SINGLES CONNECTION

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