We're in a shmita year. So why aren't American Jews talking more about student debt relief?

(JTA) — When 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 interest, and I continued allocating three times my expected monthly 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...