Congregation Beth Hillel Collection

The collection holds community newsletters from the 1940s to the 1970s as well as documents about the 10th and 25th anniversary celebration of the congregation. It further holds memorial editions on the destruction of synagogues in Germany.

Additionally, the collection includes printings in connection to high holidays, such as Remembrance lists for Yom Kippur. The collection further holds some prayer-related printings, such as a Machzor and lists of prayers for Yom Kippur.

The collection further holds documents on the merger of congregation Beth Hillel and Beth Israel in 1981.

This collection consists of one series. The first folder of the collection holds newsletters of the newly founded Congregation Beth Hillel in Washington Heights. In 1940, the congregation had set up an improvised synagogue at the Paramount Hall. The first newsletter holds information on religious matters, such as the congregation’s first Bar Mitzvah and further classes for children in preparation for their Bar Mitzvah as well as social aid within the community. A judicial, medical, and educational support network that was based on the work of community members is also mentioned. While the first newsletter ends on the notion “Lernt Englisch, Sprecht Englisch” [“Learn and Speak English”], later editions feature reports and advertisements in both English and German. By 1948, the congregation had opened its own synagogue on 182nd street.

By the 1960s the newsletter was predominantly English. Folder one further holds a speech titled “On your Retirement” from 1961, although it’s uncertain who was retiring. The folder also holds a memorial edition of the newsletter from 1963, remembering the 1938 destruction of German synagogues. This collection holds the following newsletters of congregation Beth Hillel in folder 1/1: Nr.1/ October 1940, Nr.11/ December 1941, Nr.28/ Mai 1944, Nr.50/ Mai 1947, Nr.64/ September 1948, Nr.148/ June-July 1958, Nr.150/ September 1958, Nr.176/ June-July 1962, Nr.263/ March-April 1975.

Folder two holds additional newsletters after the merge of Beth Hillel with Beth Israel in 1980. These newsletters are named “Habayit” starting in the early 1980s. This folder also holds two “Rolls of Remembrance” with the names of deceased members of the congregation. These documents from 1989 and 1997 were specifically designed for certain prayers of Yom Kippur. Folder 3 holds a list of attendees to the “25th Anniversary Dinner Dance” of 1966. Around 200 members of the congregation had attended this event at the Delmonico Hotel. A commemoration book was printed in order to honor both donors and former members of the congregation. The book further holds two pictures of the congregation’s synagogue.

Folder 4 holds a picture of the 1943 Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur celebrations of Congregation Beth Hillel. The folder further holds a “Gebetordnung” (Order of prayers) for Yom Kippur, printed before 1981, as well as another order of prayers and a Companion to the Yom Kippur Machzor from after 1981.

Folder 4 also holds a handwritten chronicle of the history of the congregation from 1940-1952, which describes some of the individual services as well as the founding of groups, such as the women’s and the youth club. The folder also holds a “Souvenir Journal” celebrating the merger of Congregation Beth Hillel and Beth Israel during Chanukah of 1981. The journal goes into detail about the history of both congregations. An article on the history of congregation Beth Hillel was written by Dr. Eric Bloch.