8 Responses to “My Take on Father’s Day”

1. SephardiLady
   June 18th, 2006 @ 8:50 pm

   David, Where exactly did your kids learn this song?

2. David Linn
   June 18th, 2006 @ 9:01 pm

   In school. Two or three different ones if I’m remembering correctly when they learned it. Around here, it seems all of the frum kids know it.

3. Neil Harris
   June 18th, 2006 @ 9:22 pm

   Great song, and great post!!

4. SephardiLady
   June 18th, 2006 @ 9:46 pm

   Thanks David.

   Quite frankly I hope our children will never learn that song.

   Honoring your parents is probably the hardest mitzvah in the book no matter what your background is.

   I see no reason in acknowledging the positive aspects of days that are set aside by men to concentrate on things that we should concentrate on. Plenty of people misuse such days and turn them into consumer holidays. But, I know that without days like Memorial Day, which we discussed before, many Americans would forget to remember the fallen.

   Same for Mother’s or Father’s Day. Sometimes it is nice to have a special day to say thank you and maybe even re-focus efforts on an important middah.

   I know that when I was growing up, we used to make coupons for Mother’s Day for our Mommy. They were for things like scrubbing the toilets, cleaning the kitchen floor, or vacuming the house. I know I didn’t come up with the idea of coupons since creativity is not my strong point, so I imagine the idea originated as a school project.

   I’d rather see the focus placed on an important mitzvah and tangible actions, rather than teaching a song that promotes neither!

   (Of course, there is no reason that the concentration of thanks need to take place on the day designated by Hallmark. The frum schools could choose a different day or month entirely if they wanted).

5. David Linn
   June 18th, 2006 @ 11:01 pm

   I remember going to a school dinner once on Mother’s Day. I was shmoozing with a Rabbi I know who was giving his rather negative opinion about the concept of Mother’s Day. I happen to know that this particular Rabbi is a paradigm of kibud av v’em. He is always running to help his parents, take them shopping, build their succah, etc. etc.

   I told him if everybody were like him, we wouldn’t need Mother’s Day. But we’re not and guys like me need a reminder every once in a while.

6. David Linn
   June 18th, 2006 @ 11:06 pm

   Oh, and by the way, one of my daughters made me a coupon good for a coffee with skim milk and splenda. The kid knows how I like it, gotta give her credit for that!

7. SephardiLady
   June 19th, 2006 @ 8:47 am

   I told him if everybody were like him, we wouldn’t need Mother’s Day.

   Like you, I say give the rest of us a chance too.

8. Steve Brizel
   June 19th, 2006 @ 8:52 am

   A number of years ago, I heard a shiur from R N I Oelbaum on Chukos HaGoyim. Someone in the audience asked R Oelbaum about Fathers’ and Mothers’ Day. R Oelbaum responded by stating that he viewed every day as Father’s and Mother’s Day because of mitzva of Kibud av vem.

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