Editor's
Letter

SALUTE TO

Loans of Mercy from page A5

The business of sustaining a loan
and operations pot bigger than the
needs of borrowers is, no doubt,
tricky.
Ultimately, remember how close
by the vast majority of loan recipi-
ents are: 26 percent live in West
Bloomfield-Commerce-Walled
Lake; 24 percent in Southfield-Oak
Park; 12 percent in Farmington
Hills; 5 percent in Bloomfield
Hills-Birmingham-Franklin; and 5
percent in Royal Oak-Huntington
Woods-Ferndale-Berkley. The other
28 percent live elsewhere in Metro
Detroit or in Washtenaw County.
In a seeming flash, any one of us
could find meeting basic living costs
a challenge, let alone Jewish costs
like synagogue dues, keeping kosher
or a small simchah celebration.
HFL goes back to 1895, when 10
Detroiters met in the back room
of Selig Koploy's shoe store on
Hastings, the Jewish enclave on
Detroit's near east side. The men
pledged $1,000 and then filed
papers with the Wayne County clerk
to create a corporation to serve the
Jewish community's needy and
distressed. I remember my grand-
mother Sophie Sklar, a Belarus
native whose Detroit roots go back
to Hastings, regaling me with sto-
ries about Hebrew Free Loan's con-
tributions to Jewish Detroit before
and after World War II.
Interest-free loans derive from the
Torah. Teachings command that it's
more fulfilling to grant a loan than
give a gift. European Jewish immi-
grants brought to America the hum-
bling belief that no matter how poor
you may be, others are poorer so you
should help them however you can.
I echo how Mary Keane puts it:
"We all have a duty to continue this
noble cause and give hope to others
when they need it most."

IN GREENFIELD VILLAGE
JULY 1-4 f 2009

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David Alan Miller

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Join us in Greenfield Village as we strike up the band for our
spectacular concert series, Salute to America. Walnut Grove
historic district is transformed into a patriotic sea of red, white and
blue as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents a rousing program
of American musical favorites in celebration of Independence Day.
Picnic, relax, enjoy the music and get ready for one of the area's
finest fireworks finales. Both subscribers of the DSO and Members
of The Henry Ford receive discounted admission to this event.

To reach Hebrew Free Loan, call
(248) 723-8184. The Web address is
www.hfldetroit.org.

Presented by

Supported by

Bank of America

13 0

DETROIT

Ford Motor Company

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Order tickets online at thehenryford.org or by calling 313.982.6001

A6

June 18 • 2009

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1-

Are you aware of
the Hebrew Free
Loan service?

z z Do you know anyone
who the agency
0
a 0
11 could help?

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