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The synagogue, designed by Parker and Forsyth, was built for the sum of 26 000 pounds and was consecrated in 1905 when Cape Town boasted it's first Jewish mayor, Hyman Liberman, who was also president of the congregation. The synagogue became popularly known as the Gardens Shul. Other congregations were founded in Cape Town at the turn of the century and with the Union of South Africa being established in 1910 as a consequence of the Boer War, the country expanded rapidly and so did the community. The congregation employed a chazzan and a choir was formally established in 1912, under the leadership of Harry Stodel. The community and particularly the congregation provided mayoral candidates, city councillors and members of parliament.
In 1941, during the uncertain years of the Second World War, the congregation celebrated 100 years of its establishment. The South African community was reaching its peak of 118 200 Jews, nearly 30 000 of whom lived in the Western Cape. In 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel and the election of the National Party, emigration to Israel and ultimately other countries began. As the city expanded, suburbia living became more desirable and diminished the Jewish population of the City Bowl area and with it, the membership of the congregation. However, since 1998, the congregation once again has flourished with the establishment of the South African Jewish Museum, the Holocaust Centre, the Jacob Gitlin Library, the function halls and the Community Administrative Centre, the site now forms a magnificent campus which has brought a new spirit back to the area where it all began and is unique in the history of congregations anywhere in the Jewish world.
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