Scottish Jewish Archives Centre

The next Open Day at the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre will be on Sunday, the 26th July from 2pm till 4pm.

Come along and have a look at our displays on the history of the Jewish community in Scotland, speak to members of our team and see the beautiful historic Garnethill Synagogue. Since our Open Day coincides with the Commonwealth Games happening in Glasgow we'll be showing sporting material from our collections!

Our Open Days are FREE BUT BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL:

SJAC Open Day Sunday 26th July 2026 Our Open Day will coincide with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

As part of the Govanhill International Festival we are leading a guided walk highlighting the Jewish History of Govanhill. It will take place on 12th August from 2pm till 4pm.

Throughout much of the 20th Century, many Jewish people lived in the Govanhill/Crosshill area, forming a community with synagogues, educational organisations, social groups, youth groups and shops.

Harvey Kaplan, Fiona Brodie & Deborah Haase of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre will lead the walk around the area exploring the Jewish History.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT BUT BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL:
https://www.trybooking.com/uk/FZAC
Meeting place for start of walk will be notified to those who book.

Jewish Govanhill Walking Trail An exploration of the history of the once large Jewish community of the Govanhill area. Jewish people have lived in Govanhill since the beginning...

2 lovely group visits during the past week: 9 members of a family with Glasgow Jewish connections and a tour group from Israel.

Our Annual General Meeting will be on Wednesday 24th June 2026 at 7pm on ZOOM

All Friends and supporters are welcome.

If you wish to attend please email [email protected] for joining instructions

Delighted to share an article on the Hidden Treasures website where the latest Archivist in the Spotlight feature focused on the SJAC's Alison Scott who's been helping us to professionalise what we do since early 2025 - well worth a read to see how she's tackled the challenge of getting to grips with our collections!

Archivist in the Spotlight: Preserving Scottish Jewish history with Alison Scott - Celebrating jewish archives For our fifth Archivist in the Spotlight, Alison Scott, Archivist at the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, reflects on her first year in […]

Garnethill Hebrew Congregation and the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre were delighted to welcome visitors from New York. The great grandsons of the late Rev. Dr IK Cosgrove, minister of Garnethill Hebrew Congregation 1935-1973, and his wife Dorothy, enjoyed a tour of Garnethill Synagogue, the Archives Centre, the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre and the Scottish Holocaust-era Study Centre, led by Archives Centre director Harvey Kaplan, who also showed them photographs from the Archives collections, illustrating their great grandparents' career at Garnethill, including their interfaith work.

This week, our director, Harvey Kaplan, welcomed 2 Glasgow University Museums Studies students on a work placement with the Citizens Theatre who spent several hours looking at our Gorbals information and Glasgow Jewish Institute Players folders. He also welcomed the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Scotland, who was interested in finding out the information we hold about Czech refugees in Scotland.

It was a pleasure to welcome Lady Linda Reich as the guest speaker at our February bagel brunch event. She entertained us with a captivating review of her varied career working in the world of
professional theatre, visual arts and opera before moving on to financial consultancy and Scottish Government tribunals.

Pictured L to R: Harvey Kaplan, Director of SJAC; Deborah Haase, Hon Curator of SJAC; Jane Tobias, Chair of SJAC's Fundraising Committee; Lady Linda Reich.

We've had visits from Glasgow University Medical Sudents and a Beaver Scout Group from Erskine in the past fortnight. They came to learn about Judaism and Jewish practices in the setting of the beautiful Garnethill Synagogue.