DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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DECEMBER 30 • 2021 | 7

eration that it was through 
school (and the “good debt” 
of student loans) that we 
would reach financial sta-
bility. Yet the White House 
announced that a pandem-
ic-induced moratorium on 
loan repayment will end in 
February.
While it’s never a good 
idea to claim that Jewish text 
has a single opinion on any 
topic, debt is a subject with 
clear limitations. In the book 
of Leviticus, our ancestors 
are instructed about shmita, 
which literally means release. 
One year of every seven, Jews 
were to let the land rest and 
its volunteer produce be eaten 
by all. The instruction deep-
ened in Deuteronomy, with 
the call to: “… release, every 
possessor of a loan of his 
hand, what he has lent to his 
neighbor. He is not to oppress 
his neighbor or his brother, 
for the shmita [release] of 
God has been proclaimed!” 
(Deut. 15:2)
As you might imagine, the 
practicalities of shmita were 
difficult to enforce and, over 
time, the practice of shmita 
largely disappeared from 
Jewish life. It’s only in the last 
few decades that it’s returned 
to public consciousness. 
Which brings us to 5782.
This year is a shmita year. 
Jewish organizations across 
the denominational and polit-
ical spectrum are addressing 
this with intentional slimming 
down of programming and 
with fundraisers to alleviate 
medical debt (another shame 
of this county). But I haven’t 
heard many Jewish organiza-
tions calling for student loan 
forgiveness.
I don’t blame Jewish orga-
nizations for having other pri-
orities. We’re going into year 
three of a public health crisis 
while reproductive justice, fair 
housing, voting access and the 
right of minorities simply to 

live safely are all in jeopardy. 
And yet? We’re a quarter of 
a way through a tailor-made 
opportunity to bring Judaism 
to bear on this pressing pub-
lic policy issue that deserves 
attention.
What if we were to apply 
this one-in-every-seven-year 
debt release to student loans? 
What if, every seven years, 
loan servicing providers had 
to forgive debt? You go to 
school, you pay a reasonable 
amount for a maximum of six 
years after graduation, and 
then you’re free?
Maybe that’s wishful think-
ing considering the priorities 
of our current society. Here’s a 
more realistic thought: Cancel 
interest. Make student loan 
borrowers pay back their prin-
cipal if you must; but make it 
possible for their balance to 
go down each month instead 
of up. After all, we have that 
instruction in the Torah, too: 
“If you lend money to my peo-
ple, to the poor among you, 
do not act toward them as a 
creditor; exact no interest from 
them.
” (Exodus 22:24)
Student debt affects people 
of all ages but particularly 
impacts millennials. I’ve spo-
ken to friends about what they 
would do without the weight 
of their student loans. They 
would be able to save to buy 
homes or pay their rent with-
out fear. They would quit the 
higher-paying, corporate jobs 
they took to afford to pay their 
loans and work for nonprof-
its. They would support their 
aging parents and their young 
kids properly. They would be 
able to think beyond their next 
paycheck, perhaps for the first 
time.
What a worthy release that 
would be. 

Rabbi Emily Cohen is the spiritual lead-

er of West End Synagogue in New York 

City, a podcast producer and an artist. 

She tweets @ThatRabbiCohen. 

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