Often, singles
have difficulty
dealing with the
family-oriented
holiday season

he holiday sea-
son stresses family life as
does no other time of the
year. It is well established
that the season can be
troublesome for many, in-
cluding those without
families of their own. How
do area Jewish singles
handle the Thanksgiving-
Chanukah-New Year's sea-
son? Just fine, thanks, ac-
cording to some local sing-
les and those who work with
them.
Jill Cole, the director of
singles activities at the
Jewish Community Center,
says Jewish single people
are no different 'than non-
Jews in
i terms of their
enjoyment of the season.
"For some singles, they may
feel lonely at the holiday
time, or they may not, it de-
pends what their support
system is, whether or not
they have family here and
how their friends celebrate
the holiday. Some singles,
I'm sure, celebrate it with
friends, some with family.
"There might be a par-
ticular problem for singles
that have come to the city,
that have (relocated). That
single might have a diffi-
culty. I think a lot of them
go home, though. But if
they don't, those are the
singles that probably find it
more difficult. That whole
thing about being alone —
the holidays sometimes
enhance that for some
people?'
Dennis Bernard is the
type of person Cole had in
mind. Bernard moved from
Cleveland to Detroit six
months ago, to become a
managing partner in a local
real estate investment firm.

with the

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MIKE ROSENBAUM

Special to The Jewish News

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This is his first holiday sea-
son away from his family in
Ohio. Is it difficult? "Sure it
is," he responds. "I think
anybody would rather be
with their family on the
holidays, because every-
thing closes down so you
end up watching TV. And
all my life I've always been
with my family for the holi-
days. So it's a little strange
not being with them."
But Bernard has turned a
potentially bad situation
into a positive one. "Once
somebody finds out that
you're from out of town, or
that you're single, they in-
vite you to their family get-
togethers. So whether it
was for Rosh Hashanah,
Yom Kippur, Thanksgiv-
ing, Chanukah, whatever,
I've been invited — several
people have been nice
enough to invite me to
their parties, or get-
togethers. Not quite the
same thing as your own
family. It's a good way to
meet women, though."
Realistically, Bernard
guesses that next year may
be different. "NeXt year,
people probably won't be as
conscious of the fact that I
just moved up here, and I
may not have anything to
do for the holiday. But I
think in the first year,•the
people that you just meet
are all aware because you
talk about where you're
from, etc., you just moved
here. But I think the more
time you spend in the city,
away from where you're
from, the less people re-'
member that you might not
have anything to do for the
holidays."

Continued on Page 89