Kaplan Centre

In 2017, the Kaplan Centre initiated a comprehensive study of the Cape Town community. This report outlines some of the demographic information collected during the course of that project.

The Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at UCT, working with the Research Collective, conducted an intensive study of the Cape Town Jewish community that involved collecting and analysing communal data from a variety of organisations and conducting 770 face-to-face interviews with a randomly selected sample of community members. The findings offer insight into the identities, opinions, and experiences of Cape Town’s Jewish community. This small selection is drawn from a broad array of findings.

The Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the period of June 2020 to May 2021.  

Deadline: 17 January 2020 

Rachel Bloch House, home to the Kaplan Centre since 1989, has re-opened after major renovations providing new spaces for study, work, teaching, and exhibitions, as well as an light, airy, and welcoming cafeteria.

The Kaplan Centre is a hub for research focused on Jews and Jewish life in South Africa. Explore our archival and book collections, search our online databases, and contact our staff to learn more.

The Kaplan Centre presents two new online exhibitions:
Ethnic Radicals that explores the links between the ethnic origins, institutions and values that informed the early lives and socialisation of Jewish radicals; and the Life and Art of Herman Wald, providing a coherent and chronological overview seen within the perspective of his time on the art historical map together with an interpretation of his work. 

The Kaplan Centre produces much new work that focuses on the past and present of Jews in South Africa. Explore our latest attitudinal and demographic studies or delve into the past.

A ONCE IN A DECADE OPPORTUNITY. The Kaplan Centre at the University of Cape Town and the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) in London will be carrying out a survey of South Africa’s Jewish community early in 2019.