6 | DECEMBER 30 • 2021

1942 - 2021

Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week

To make a donation to the
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfoundation.org

The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520)

is published every Thursday at

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205,

Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical

postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and

additional mailing offices.

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Detroit Jewish News,

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205,

Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater
Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com



Publisher
The Detroit Jewish
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
Chair: Gary Torgow
Vice President: David Kramer
Secretary: Robin Axelrod
Treasurer: Max Berlin
Board members: Larry Jackier,
Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer


Senior Advisor to the Board:
Mark Davidoff
Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair:
Mike Smith
Founding President & Publisher Emeritus:
Arthur Horwitz
Founding Publisher
Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory





| Editorial
DIrector of Editorial:
Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com
Associate Editor:
David Sachs
dsachs@thejewishnews.com
Social Media and Digital Producer:
Nathan Vicar
nvicar@thejewishnews.com
Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz
dschwartz@thejewishnews.com
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@thejewishnews.com

Contributing Writers:
Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne
Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Keri Guten
Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman
Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy
Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber,
Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi
Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin
Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein,
Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky

| Advertising Sales
Director of Advertising: Keith Farber
kfarber@thejewishnews.com
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Harvey-Mitton
kmitton@thejewishnews.com

| Business Office
Director of Operations: Amy Gill
agill@thejewishnews.com
Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho
agusho@thejewishnews.com
Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo
Circulation: Danielle Smith
Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner

| Production By
Farago & Associates
Manager: Scott Drzewiecki
Designers: Kelly Kosek, Kaitlyn Schoen,
Deborah Schultz, Michelle Sheridan


PURELY COMMENTARY

W

hen I finished
rabbinical school
in 2018, I entered
the “real world” with $40,000
in student loans. I acted fast,
prioritizing repayment over
everything
else. Within six
months, I paid
nearly $10,000 to
eliminate inter-
est, and I con-
tinued allocating
three times my
expected month-
ly payment. Interest didn’t get
much chance to build, and
when we hit the pandemic
pause, I was on track to clear
my loans in two years.

I am unbelievably lucky.
My parents were able to help
me with undergrad (due to
generational wealth resulting

from many Jews being coded
as white after World War II). I
had a scholarship covering half
of rabbinical school, and my

financial education set me up
to make the decision to throw
as much as I could at my loans
as soon as I finished school.
One of my closest friends?
Not so lucky. To pay the loans
he took for his advanced
degree, he would need to pay
twice his rent each month
just to scrape the top off the
principal. His best hope (and
current plan) is Public Student
Loan Forgiveness, but the
problems with that program
have been well documented,
and it’s nerve-wracking to
watch his balance go up each
month as interest continues to
build.
When our current president
campaigned, he acknowl-
edged the burden of student
loans and promised to forgive
$10,000 per borrower. Some
are also calling for student
loans to be forgiven entirely
due to predatory loan prac-
tices coupled with the often
false promise made to my gen-

opinion
We’re in a Shmita Year. So Why
Aren’t American Jews Talking
More About Student Debt Relief?

Rabbi Emily
Cohen
JTA.org
Activists hold signs calling on President Joe Biden to cancel student
debt and not resume student loan payments outside the White House,
Dec. 15, 2021.

PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES FOR WE, THE 45 MILLION