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The Goldene Medina: Celebrating 175 Years of Jewish Life in South Africa

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Kol Nidre night, September 2016, marked the 175th anniversary of Jewish religious and cultural life in South Africa.

To mark this special occasion, the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town developed an exhibition reflecting of the social history of the SA Jewish community entitled The Goldene Medina.

The South African Jewish Museum, and B’nai B’rith NSW are proud to announce the opening of this unique exhibition in Sydney next month.

This exhibition is a celebration of the birth and evolution of a community. It tells the story of the South African Jewish community from 1841 to 2016; of how early Anglo/German Jewish settlers, poverty-stricken Litvaks, and the Sephardim of Rhodes Island came together and shaped a shared identity – the South African Jew.

The exhibition is focussed on the lives of ordinary South African Jews. Told via short, anonymous anecdotes, curated from family photographs, first person accounts, unpublished diaries and responses to a social media campaign, a story unfolds of a community that began as refugees but soon grew to become an integral part of the multi-cultural landscape of South Africa. At each turn visitors are presented with stories of South African life experiences that are familiar and endearing. The exhibition is likely to trigger memory and elicit nostalgia in all South Africans.

This exhibition has toured South Africa to wide acclaim. It’s popularity resulting in extended runs at each major centre.

The exhibition will on at the B’nai B’rith Centre (Barker Street, Kensington, UNSW) from 6 May to 3 June.