Jewish communities know how to help a family in crisis; emergencies are, for better or worse, our specialty. Our communities can write checks. We can cover the rent. We will fill the fridge.
What we do not know how to do — and what a growing number of families actually need — is to help them with debt.
The families I am describing are not the ones you might expect. They are dual-income households. They are paying tuition. They are showing up to synagogues. They are hosting Shabbat meals when they can. They are your neighbors, and parents to the friends of your children. From the outside, they look stable. Behind closed doors, they are drowning in…