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Creator
Beth Ha-Tefilah Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Mount Vernon, N.Y.)
Call number
MssCol 188369
Physical description
3 audio_recordings
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Beth Ha-Tefilah Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation audio collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
An anonymous donor funded preliminary processing for this collection. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported a research library-wide grant for the digitization, and funded the Schomburg for the description and production of the finding aid as part of The Next Century of Black Studies Project.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
Access to materials
Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.

The Beth Ha-Tefilah Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1972 by Rabbi Yeshua ben Yahonaton and Rabbinit Leana Yahonatan in St. Albans, Queens, as a spiritual branch of the headquarters of Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Harlem. The collection consists of three audio recordings including two radio programs with Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew.

Biographical/historical information

The Beth Ha-Tefilah Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1972 by Rabbi Yeshua ben Yahonaton (d. circa 2008) and Rabbinit Leana Yahonatan (1926-2020) in St. Albans, Queens, as a spiritual branch of the headquarters of Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Harlem. By the early 1980s, the Beth Ha-Tefilah Congregation had relocated to Mount Vernon, New York. Although the temple was still in existence as of 2005, there is no congregation.

Scope and arrangement

The collection consists of three audio recordings including two radio programs with Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew (Rabbi W.A. Matthew, 1892-1973) dated 1961, and one music recording. They are arranged chronologically. The music recording's original format is an audio cassette and contains two parts.

Rabbi W.A. Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers of the Living God (Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation) in 1919, in Harlem. In 1962, the congregation moved into its historic Harlem location at 1 West 123rd Street. The two radio programs in this collection discuss the congregation's need for a new synagogue prior to its relocation.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Rabbinit Leana Yahonatan, and Zakor: Israelite History and Archives Project, 1995.

Processing information

Collection inventoried by Nathan Evans. Collection processed and described by Ornella U. Baganizi, archivist. Finding aid published in 2025.

Separated material

See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Beth Ha-Tefilah Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation records, Sc MG 568.

See the Photographs and Prints Division for the photographs.

Related Material

The Schomburg Center acquired the following collections under the Zakor: Israelite History and Archives Project: See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation records, Sc MG 573; B'nai Adath Kol Beth Yisroel collection, Sc MG 577; Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation records, Sc MG 574; Congregation Mount Horeb records, Sc MG 591; Ethiopian Hebrews Falasha Congregation collection, Sc MG 653; Hatzaad Harishon records, Sc MG 576; and Kohol Beth B'nai Yisroel records, Sc MG 575.

The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division holds these counterpart collections: Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation audio collection, Sc MIRS Beth 1995-25; and Congregation Mount Horeb audio and moving image collection, Sc MIRS Congregation 1995-58.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Third Floor

Access to materials

Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.