The East End Temple Men’s Club fosters fellowship, provides service, and promotes education within our community. We are planning a robust slate of events for the coming year, so watch this space for more information. Any questions or ideas can be emailed to mensclub@eastendtemple.org.
2023-2024 Programs
Monthly meetings at 7:00pm (in person and via Zoom): April 18, May 16, June 20
EET at the Celebrate Israel Parade Sunday, June 2 Join the EET delegation for the annual Celebrate Israel Parade
Spring Family Picnic Saturday, June 15 at 12:00pm Please save the date. We will start asking for RSVPs on June 1. Once again, EETMC will provide sandwiches, drinks, plates, napkins and utensils. We ask folks to bring side dishes or desserts. We will also try to have some organized fun competitive events (events that are inclusive to all ages and comfort levels!), with fun prizes for the winners.
Coming Soon (dates TBD):
Museum of Jewish Heritage Visit We are looking to plan a group visit and tour in the second half of June (hopefully capturing folks before the end of the school year when people head out of the city). Please look for more details soon!
The Boomers of East End Temple (BEET) is a chavurah (group) formed to build connections among the baby boomer (officially defined as born between 1946 and 1964) community. We look to schedule programs that may interest the generation who grew up through massive social changes which strongly influenced who we are today. During these programs, most of which are open to the general baby boomer community, we enjoy sharing special memories unique to our generation as well as educating and supporting each other as we continue on our current life’s journeys. One of our most popular events is our intimate (members-only) Friday, Shabbat potluck dinners where we share our thoughts on a boomer-related topic, ensuring that everyone gets to know something about each other.
The Sisterhood of East End Temple brings together women in all stages of life in friendship, leadership, and intellectual and spiritual growth. We listen to women’s voices and promote their interests, passions, ideas, and concerns. Together we engage in tikkun olam by producing timely and relevant programming, fundraising, and advocating for social justice, while nurturing the life of the congregation, its leaders, and the community at large.
We offer a number of programs in different formats — in person, on Zoom and hybrid. Unless otherwise stated, the entire community, friends and family, is welcome to join us! Please send any questions and RSVPs to sisterhood@eastendtemple.org, except where noted.
Ongoing Programs
Food For Families Sundays at 12:00pm: Will return in Fall 2024 For over 30 years, multiple generations of our community have made meals to feed hungry New Yorkers. Advance sign-up will be required (look for the link in an upcoming eblast). All participants must be age 12 or older (ages 12-15 must be accompanied by an adult). Each participant should bring five loaves of whole wheat bread and 16 pieces of fruit (preferably apples and oranges) and wear a hat to comply with Department of Health regulations.
Getting to Know You — Monthly Wednesdays Lunchtime Speaker Series(Zoom) Will return in Fall 2024 Bring your lunch and join us as we introduce a fascinating member of our community.
Rosh Chodesh Study and Discussion: “Rebekah, Our Second Matriarch” (in person and via Zoom) Sundays at 10:30am: Will return in Winter 2025 We continue our celebration of Rosh Chodesh, a holiday traditionally connected to women, with our fourth session, “Beyond the Blessing.” Join us for lively sessions led by Fern Stampleman, Elissa Macklin and Laurie Treuhaft. We’ll spend time together in conversation, share a potluck brunch and participate in evaluating Rebekah’s impact on the covenantal promise. No prior knowledge necessary! Registration required. All reading materials emailed to registrants in advance of each date.
Stitch-A-Thon Will return in Winter 2025 Gather for a while with other stitchers. Show off your latest projects; get help from our experts; make a hat or scarf for our Cold Weather Project for donating to New York’s needy.
Mah Jongg
Play/Learn in Person First and third Thursdays from 11:30am to 1:30pm (in person) Interested in learning to play mah jongg or finding players? Cash donation of $5 to play, $10 for a lesson. Coffee, tea and snacks available. Please register or let us know your interest by completing this form Upcoming dates: May 2, May 16
A Day Of Mah Jongg – Play, Lunch, and Prizes Sunday, May 5 from 10:30am-3:30pm Play, shmooze, and eat to raise money for Sisterhood causes! During the day, we will play Mah Jongg for two 90-minute periods with a break for lunch between. There will be raffle prizes throughout the day and a special prize for the game winner at days end. All levels of play and all genders are welcome! Your cost of $36 will cover lunch and prizes and provide funds for all the many projects led by The Sisterhood of East End Temple. Some of these projects include feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, and gifts for our students that connect them to the EET community.
Sisterhood Board Meetings (Sisterhood members only) Thursdays at 6:30pm: May 23, June 27 (in person and via Zoom) All Sisterhood members are invited to join our bi-monthly board meetings when we share thoughts about our upcoming and past events, social action initiatives and what we can do to support each other and the EET community. RSVP requested to sisterhood@eastendtemple.org.
Scheduled Programs
Sisterhood Shabbat (in person and Livestream) Will return in Spring 2025
Helene Spring Library Event Will return in Spring 2025 Our annual celebration of our beautiful library includes a featured author speaking about their book, followed by a book sale and signing, and our always-popular homemade dessert buffet.
Lilith Seder Thursday, April 25 at 6:00pm (in person and Zoom) Sisterhood members using she/her pronouns, plus one guest, are welcome (ages 13 and up) Join us for our annual potluck seder! Led by Cantor Brodsky, everyone participates in reading from a Haggadah written especially for the Sisterhood of East End Temple, focused on the women’s role in the Passover story, including prayers using feminized Hebrew. We sing songs written by Debbie Friedman, dance with tambourines, honor women of valor, use a Miriam’s Cup for water and place a symbolic orange on the seder plate.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, indicating whether you will join in person or on Zoom, and if in person, including your guest’s name and contribution to the potluck dinner or seder items. In-person space fills up quickly so you are advised to respond as soon as possible. If you are not a current Sisterhood member, we welcome you to JOIN OR RENEW for a minimum contribution of $36 for the 2023-2024 membership year. For further information, please email SISTERHOOD@EASTENDTEMPLE.ORG.
Engaging in tikkun olam – our fundraising and advocacy programs Sisterhood supports a number of worthy causes for those in need as well as temple staff, clergy and building projects. If you are interested in donating to any of our funds and/or honoring a loved one, please refer to the Contribute page.
Birthday Fund In its 12th year, Jodi Malcom chairs this outreach fund supported by donations honoring Sisterhood member birthdays, the birthdays of their loved ones, and other life events. Monies are directed to local organizations selected annually that support the lives of women and girls. Recently, donations were given to the Women’s Prison Association, which empowers women to redefine their lives in the face of injustice and incarceration, and New Women New Yorkers, which empowers immigrant women to obtain meaningful employment or pursue higher education in NYC.
Food For Families Funds Led by a team of Sisterhood women for almost 30 years, we gather to make meals to feed hungry New Yorkers, which are picked up and distributed by City Harvest. Donations to these funds are used to buy the meal-making ingredients and materials.
Helene Spring Library Fund A jewel of the temple, our library houses an extensive collection from which temple members may browse and borrow. Named for one of EET’s founding members, who is both a past temple president and Sisterhood president, we raise funds to keep our library beautiful and well-stocked.
Sisterhood Leadership Development Fund We are dedicated to creating leaders who can develop programs to enhance our EET community and to raise funds to support meaningful projects. Women of Reform Judaism, along with other leadership organizations, provides us with access to many development tools, from conferences to training presentations. Monies in this fund will be used to take advantage of those tools in order to support the enhancement of leadership skills of current Sisterhood members and to develop future Sisterhood leaders.
East End Temple’s Young Professionals meet monthly for Shabbat services and a dinner conversation, connect for Jewish holidays, and gather socially at each other’s homes. This growing constituency is comprised of people who want to be Jewishly involved, Jews by choice, people in relationship with Jews, and those who are Jewishly interested and seeking meaning amid busy lives.
Get connected
Email Rabbi Josh Stanton, jstanton@eastendtemple.org. And to receive the EET Weekly Eblast so you are up-to-date with what’s going on across the Temple, send your email to EET office at info@eastendtemple.org.
Our
mission is to cultivate relevant Jewish life through connected
community. We seek to expand avenues into Torah (Jewish learning and
practice), God (all forms of spiritual connection) and the Jewish people
(locally and globally) to help one another live lives of meaning.
We do this through:
Our Diversity: Betzelem Elohim, In the Image of God
We
welcome all in the Jewish community: young and old; single, partnered
and married; LGBT and straight; interfaith families; Jewish-born or
converted; those with and without mental and physical disabilities;
financially struggling or well-off. If you choose us, we choose you.
Our Accessibility: My House Shall be a House of Prayer for All People
We encourage full participation, enfranchisement and leadership through education and relationship-building.
Our Intimacy: Face to Face
We strive to know and care for one another through the cultivation of relationships between and among members.
Our Giving and Receiving: As Your Heart is so Inclined
We
aspire to a high quality of synagogue life, and give of time and
resources to create that quality. Our members who derive the most from
their East End Temple experience are often those who give the most.
Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for “world repair”) has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice.
Highlights
Interfaith support and collaboration with Middle Collegiate Church, one of the oldest continuous Protestant churches in North America, following a devastating fire
Sisterhood‘s Food For Families fed thousands of hungry New Yorkers
Engaged in Keshet training to improve equality of the LGBTQIA+ community
Provided direct assistance to 208 asylum-seeking families in Chinatown
EET Eastside Schleppers, a volunteer apartment set-up team, works with Ruth’s Refuge to move donated household items, including furniture, for the newest New Yorkers. For more information, email info@eastendtemple.org.
Team TLC-NYC is a grassroots organization providing basic needs and support to asylum seekers and migrants. Volunteer info here, or donate here.
Repair the World is an organization the helps Jewish communities to pursue making this world a better place, with volunteer opportunities for kids and adults. Find a local project here.
Support Israel
The East End Temple Board of Trustees has vetted and recommends the following organizations in supporting Israel.
Growing up, Cantor Brodsky was touched by liturgical music and recognized it as an accessible and powerful means of connecting with her heritage and community. She believes strongly in the transcendent nature of music, and its unparalleled ability to both convey and evoke emotion and spirituality.
Influenced by the musical styles of both Reform and Conservative cantors, as well as her background in both Musical Theatre and Classical music, Cantor Brodsky recognizes that the musical preferences of our community are as diverse as the people of whom it is composed. Cantor Brodsky makes a concerted effort to keep the music of Shabbat and Holiday services eclectic, participatory, and engaging. With a combination of folk, contemporary, classical compositions and chazzanut, she hopes that everyone will hear music that speaks to their souls and accentuates the meaning of our liturgy.
Enjoy our newsletter, Templet. Stay up to date on the latest events, activities and stories at East End Temple. You can download recent editions of the Templet by clicking the links below.
We are grateful for your support. Tzedakah, or charity, fulfills some of Judaism’s strongest traditions. It also powers the activities and well-being of East End Temple. You may make a contribution in honor of a person or an event, in memory of someone, or just because you care about the EET community.
HOW TO GIVE
Click on the following links for convenient ways to support East End Temple:
Members, please click here. If you would like to contribute by check, please mail to: East End Temple, 245 E. 17th St., New York, NY, 10003, or to East End Temple, P.O. Box 418, Montvale, NJ 07645. Please note the fund on the memo line.
Guests, please click here to complete the necessary information to process a contribution. A description of our giving opportunities is listed below.
WHERE TO GIVE
TEMPLE FUNDS
KOL NIDREI 5784 APPEAL: helps ensure future growth of East End Temple
CANTOR’S DISCRETIONARY FUND: used for charitable giving, enrichment of the congregation and community. $36.00 minimum
EL EMET FUND: helps beautify and maintain our temple, underwrite holiday festivities, projects. In honor of a simchah, a mishebeirach, yahrzeits. $10.00 minimum
FUND FOR THE FUTURE: helps ensure future growth in all temple activities. $100.00 minimum
HAMERMESH MUSIC FUND: provides special music programs and resource materials. $18.00 minimum
LEONARD AND HELENE SPRING MEMORIAL FUND: Dedicated to providing safety and comfort-based enhancements for the sanctuary and throughout the temple building. Materials that aid the physically and mentally challenged are the focus of this fund. $18.00 minimum
RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY FUND: used for charitable giving, enrichment of the congregation and community. $36.00 minimum
SARA A. SPENCER CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL FUND: provides educational materials for the Religious School. $18.00 minimum
SIMCHAT SHABBAT FUND: provides musical Shabbatot and diverse community programs. $54.00 minimum
SOCIAL JUSTICE FUND: used to provide service to those in need in our neighborhood, city, nation, and world. No minimum
East End Temple — 75 Years Together
In 1948, a community of World War II veterans came together to found East End Temple. Through leadership, innovation, and dedication to community, our congregation has grown and flourished.
To launch EET into our next 75 years, we have launched a campaign, 75 for 75, in which we look to raise $75,000 to fund our future and initiatives currently being developed by clergy, Board members and congregants. To donate, please choose Fund for the Future.
Legacy Circle
It is thanks to the foresight and generosity of those who came before us that EET has entered its eighth decade with strength and vibrancy. We are grateful to them for establishing a spiritual home that cultivates relevant Jewish life through connected community. Now it is our turn to make certain our tradition continues for generations and that EET continues to be a beacon for downtown Jewish life.
The EET Legacy Circle will bring together members like you and us, who are eager to help ensure our Jewish community’s future for generations to come by naming East End Temple as a beneficiary in their estate plans. Planned gifts of all sizes can play a significant role in sustaining our Temple. If you have already included EET in your estate plans, as we each have, please email Judith or simply send this form back to the temple office.
And if you are thinking about including EET in your estate plans, we would love to talk further with you. Please feel free to contact either of us or Rabbi Josh Stanton (jstanton@eastendtemple.org) for a confidential discussion. We are truly grateful for your consideration.
L’Dor V’Dor, From Generation to Generation
L’shalom, Rebecca Shore and Brian Lifsec, Co-Presidents Judith Sussman, Chair, The East End Temple Legacy Circle
For the following gift/naming opportunities, please contact the EET office via phone or email:
Floral (Flowers for the service)
$75
Kehilla Plaque on Sanctuary Lobby Wall
$5,000 min.
Memorial Board Plaque
$720
Oneg/Collation
$400 / $250
Simcha Tree Leaf
$234
HIGH HOLY DAYS (HHD) purchases/giving: HHD Pledge, HHD Ticket (Member), HHD Ticket (Non-Members), Yizkor.
SISTERHOOD PROGRAMS
Donations to one of the Sisterhood-sponsored programs can now be made online, using one of the above links, under HOW TO GIVE. However, if you prefer to send a paper check, please make your check payable to EET Sisterhood, indicate the name of the fund(s) and send it to the temple office. Your canceled check is your receipt.
FOOD FOR FAMILIES: Led by a team of Sisterhood women for almost 30 years, we gather to make meals to feed hungry New Yorkers, which are picked up and distributed by City Harvest. Donations to these funds are used to buy the meal-making ingredients and materials. $18 minimum
FOOD FOR FAMILIES DAY SPONSOR: Contribution designates you as sponsor for the day. $360 minimum
HELENE SPRING LIBRARY FUND: helps purchase new and archival books, library equipment and additional materials for our library. $18 minimum
SISTERHOOD BIRTHDAY FUND: contributes to a social action fund benefiting women and girls to be selected annually. $18 minimum
All contributions to East End Temple or Sisterhood will be acknowledged to the person(s) for whom you make a donation, as well as noted in our monthly newsletter, Templet.
Shira with Shira is a group of congregants who sing with our fabulous Cantor, Shira Ginsburg. We have several sessions about three times a year (not unlike the approach to adult ed), and we occasionally sing at services, the annual Holocaust Observance in the City, and the like.
The next sessions of Shira with Shira will take place in November, on three successive Tuesdays, the 5th, 12th and 19th. We rehearse in the sanctuary from 6:30 to 7:45 pm, and we will be preparing for a joint interfaith Thanksgiving service on November 26 with singers from the Village Temple. We hope you can join us.
Singing with Shira with Shira is an opportunity to spend time with Cantor Shira and up to as many as ten or more congregants who love to sing and learn about singing with the Cantor.
