Situated in the "Museum Mile" in central Cape Town, the South African Jewish Museum offers visitors a truly unique experience with its bold architectural design, interactive multi-media displays and engaging accounts of South African Jewish history.

The museum, the brainchild of Mendel Kaplan and officially opened by Nelson Mandela in December 2000, attracts about 15,000 visitors a year. It is sad that this world class one-of-a-kind Jewish Museum only gets around 50 visitors a day! Despite that, the dedicated staff do a wonderful job of its upkeep.

The entrance to the museum is situated in the Old Synagogue, the first synagogue built in South Africa in 1863. This is linked to the new gallery by a bridge - the bridge between the old and the new - the gangplank to the shores of the Cape and the immigrants' new homeland. The synagogue’s original wooden ark, mosaic floor and other artefacts can be found inside the museum.

On view are rare Judaica artifacts, animated video footage of the famous Barney Barnato and Max Rose, and an award winning documentary film Nelson Mandela. A Righteous Man, which is screened throughout the day.