Manchester Jewish Museum is for Jewish and non-Jewish people offering a unique experience as both a social history museum and as a resource for learning. As a social history museum, we tell the story of Manchester’s Jewish community from the 1780s to the present day. With 30,000 items in our collections, the Museum explores the cultural and religious evolution of Manchester’s Jewish community. Our collection reveals the political and industrial legacies of this community on a local, regional, national and international scale. This is the only UK museum housed inside an original synagogue and, built in 1874, it is Manchester’s oldest surviving synagogue. The oil paintings in our collection reflect the history of Manchester’s Jewish community. Most have been donated by private donors. The collection includes mayoral portraits and paintings commissioned by individual families. The museum opened to the public in 1984 and the collection has continued to grow since that date. The Museum still actively collects material relating to the Jewish community in Manchester.