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. Postmaster: send changes to: 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