It was a very productive and exciting month for our organizing efforts. On April 2, over 20 EET members attended the Manhattan Together Member Assembly. We were welcomed as one of its newest members in front of approximately 300 people from 30 Jewish and Christian religious organizations.

The event was best summarized by EET's Lisa Binder: "I was most moved by just the sheer sight of hundreds of people from churches and synagogues around Manhattan coming together in common cause. Sharing a meal and sharing stories with people I might not otherwise have ever met was truly uplifting. Most impressive was the diversity of people: children, middle-aged and elderly people; Jews, Hispanics and African Americans."

After a year-long listening campaign by our East End family, we realize that the future of our community and how it will maintain its identity is in jeopardy, starting with the rising cost of housing in our neighborhood. Knowing that this problem can greatly change the way our community will live as well as how our congregation will survive, we discovered that we are not alone in this city-wide effort to attend to the problem.

Housing Campaign Conversations

We will be having community conversations on housing and also going deeper into the specific stories of our members as we shape our housing campaign on: May 1, 15, and 22. EET members are invited to join in the one-to-one talks after Friday night services during the Oneg.

Beyond-the-Bagels Brunch

Our Aging with Dignity team will be hosting a Beyond-the-Bagels brunch on Saturday, May 9 at 3 pm.

This special gathering is for anyone interested in joining a discussion that explores the issues involved with community support for people who are aging or for those taking care of one who is aging.

On that Saturday, our Religious School third graders will be leading the Havdallah service and we are invited to join them after our event.

If anyone is interested in participating in our community organizing efforts, contact our Student Rabbi

Kim Herzog Cohen kbherzog@gmail.com or visit the Community Organizing page on our web page atwww.EastEndTemple.org/ComOrg.