Discovering the story of one of the great communities of the Jewish diaspora is one of Cape Town’s not-to-be missed heritage experiences.

​

Situated on perhaps the most historic urban square mile in the country and built as an extension of South Africa’s oldest synagogue, the South African Jewish Museum is a marvel of modern architecture whose contents mirror this fusion of the old world and the new.

Its gleaming interiors house a range of interactive displays, audio-visual presentations and fascinating artefacts, taking visitors on a journey back to South African Jewry’s early roots in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Featuring a life-sized recreation of a shtetl, the museum traces es the cultural history of Jews, Jewish life and Judaism in general.

As an added attraction, the museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Netsuke (Japanese miniature art).

A thrilling combination of the historic and the contemporary, the South African Jewish Museum pays tribute to a community that was extraordinarily influential in developing South Africa as we know it, and that continues to impact South Africa’s economic, political and cultural narrative.