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Some Post-Passover Th oughts

A

wouldn’t bbbbbbbother me in the lllll-
nother Passover is winding
least if they have wwwwwwon it all.
down. By now, the last folding
chair from your seder has been Mazel tov!
MSU fans know that if things had
returned to the basement and that
played out exactly right, State
one lost piece of afikoman has
had the potential of facing
finally been found — courtesy
U-M in this year’s champi-
of the ants gathered under the
onship game. And having
rug you forgot you hid it under.
already lost twice to them
My niece Rachel keenly
this past season, well, that
observed that the age-old
was one game I didn’t mind
question — “Why is this
seeing “passover.” I can’t
night different from all other
believe I put that in writing.
nights?” — was never more
Alan Muskovitz
Too bad nobody offered me
appropriate for this year’s
any hush money.
second seder. Why? Because
Meanwhile, for those of
of the stress involved in know-
you planning ahead, Passover
ing your second seder was
2019 will fall April 19-27, and
scheduled to start at the exact
Barbra Walters will be happy to know
time you wanted to start watch-
that Passover 20/20 will be April 8-16.
ing Michigan’s Final Four match-up
I’m still fascinated by the change in
against Loyola-Chicago! Who could’ve
dates from year to year for our Jewish
predicted a battle between matzah
holidays. It’s the Jewish calendar
balls and basketballs? I mean, you
versus the Gregorian calendar. The
really didn’t want to DVR it, right?
Jewish calendar is lunar-based while
I’m writing this prior to the
the Gregorian calendar is solar, which
game. By the time you read this, the
means it’s more eco-friendly.
Wolverines may be national champi-
On a side note, I wonder how folks
ons. (I know, kein ayin harahs — no
back 3,000 years ago reminded them-
evil eyes.) And that’s not easy for a
selves of important dates and times?
Michigan State grad to admit. But
The only tablets they could store info
there, I said it. I’m sure I’ll get my
on were made of stone. It would have
share of grief, but I happen to like
this U-M team and their coach, and it taken far too long to chisel out one of

those 10-minute appointment alerts
we get on our smart phones today.
And poor Moses. If he only had one
of today’s navigation systems to rely
on, he could’ve greatly reduced that
40-year schlep through the desert. Oh,
how I wish he could’ve taken advan-
tage of my brain child navigation sys-
tem for Jews: On-Star of David.
Imagine, too, just how much more
rested Moses and our people would’ve
been if they could’ve left the schlep-
ping through the desert up to a hired
Jewber driver? Or an autonomous
driven camel no less. By the way, I
should have known better than to
think the Jewber idea was original.
I searched Jewber on YouTube and
found a parody about a Jewber driver
— a worried Jewish mother who
insists on driving you around town
safely. Go ahead; look it up.
Speaking of driving … I hope you’ll
join me in my latest communal
endeavor to help improve our hor-
rendous roads courtesy of Passover.
This Sunday, I’ll be out filling in area
potholes with leftover charoset. •

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting
talent, speaker, emcee and guest host on the
Mitch Album Show on WJR AM 760. Visit
laughwithbigal.com and “Like” Al on Facebook.

editorial

Canadian Newsprint Is
Not the Enemy — Tariffs Are

T

he Department of Commerce
recently announced counter-
vailing and anti-dumping
duties on Canadian imports of
newsprint. These duties range as
high as 32 percent.
The sole petitioner seeking
protection is North Pacific Paper
Company (NORPAC), a single mill
in Washington state that is owned
by a New York–based hedge fund.
No other U.S. newsprint mills have
supported NORPAC, and its peti-
tions are opposed by the American
Forest and Paper Industry. Why?
The rest of the industry knows that
these tariffs will cause damage to
newspapers and ultimately reduce
the demand for newsprint.

The printers who typically utilize
Canadian newsprint are those in
the Northeast and Midwest, where
there are currently no U.S. mills
operating.
The Midwest is not a newsprint
desert because of unfair trade by
Canadian paper mills. Rather, news-
print mills shut down or converted
to producing other, more profitable
paper products when the demand
for newsprint fell, something that
has been happening steadily for
decades.
Historically, advertising rev-
enue has supported newspapers.
The recession and market forces
have cut print ad revenues in half
industrywide over the last 10 years.

With less print advertising, news-
papers use less newsprint. In fact,
the demand for newsprint in North
America has declined by 75 percent
since 2000.
Since these tariffs have been
announced and collected at the
border, newspapers, including the
Jewish News, have experienced price
increases of 20-30 percent.
Please let the president as well
as your members of Congress and
senators know that these reckless
tariffs must be repealed — not just
because they hurt newspapers, but
because they will damage the cus-
tomers and communities newspa-
pers serve. •

My
Story

Hebrew Free Loan entered Joel
Hechler’s life through word of
mouth from friends.
“Where I lived a few years ago,
the neighbors regularly socialized
with each other,” Joel said, “and
we remained friends even as our
families grew and we moved away.
So when I heard about HFL from
two of those friends, who were
then active members of the agency’s
Board, it had my attention. I have a
background in accounting, and I
really liked the idea of helping people
get back on track.”
Joel looked into HFL, made
donations and eventually joined
the agency’s Board. “I find this so
fulfilling,” Joel said, “and I enjoy
leveraging my financial acumen to
directly help people. I say directly
because I’m working with a team
of really dedicated Board members
to help people we actually meet.
This isn’t in the abstract, it’s our
community.”
Joel also appreciates that HFL
has loan funds and programs for
so many needs. “We are really
adaptive, looking at community
trends, and helping people where
they are. I’m part of the Marvin I.
Danto Small Business Loan
Program review team, and I truly
enjoy watching the entrepreneurial
spirit flourish, and helping people
live their dreams. We really are
looking out for one another.
“I want people to know what a
caring, empathetic, positive agency
HFL truly is. And you know, there’s
also a rebound. I enjoy helping others,
and the experience has a profound
positive effect on my life as well.”

Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.

Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs. HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help maintain the lives of
local Jews.

6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

jn

@HFLDetroit

April 5 • 2018

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