Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum

Through objects, interactive activities, and immersive storytelling, our exhibitions and programs will explore the stories of our capital city through a Jewish lens – the impact of Jews on public discourse and the course of our country and the many people from around the world drawn here for public service, protest, and global impact.

The Capital Jewish Museum is the only organization in the metropolitan area that is exclusively dedicated to preserving Washington's Jewish history. The Museum explores the unique Jewish heritage of Washington as a hometown and as the nation's capital. We chronicle and present the story of the local Jewish community through archival collections, exhibits, educational programs, publications, and the restoration and preservation of the oldest synagogue building in the nation's capital.

Through innovative exhibits, lectures, publications and children's programs, we educate both the Jewish and non-Jewish community as well as visitors from around the world about Jewish life.

The Museum has restored and saved our 1876 historic synagogue (the oldest in the area and a project of Save America's Treasures). The historic synagogue will be the centerpiece of our new museum — the largest artifact and the starting point for visitors.
From that heart, we will literally connect our roots to our future, with a two-story lobby that links the synagogue to the new museum.

A second-floor bridge bisects the lobby, and creates an accessible entry to the historic sanctuary for the first time in its storied history!

The new four-story, modern museum facility will include three public floors of exhibitions and programming spaces, and one staff floor for collections archives and offices.

Additional public spaces will provide an opportunity to host compelling public programs for families, schoolchildren and adults that engage with broader, provocative themes in the news

 Successful fundraising. We have raised $34.4 million toward our $38 million goal, which includes endowment and operation support.
 Audience development. We hosted more than 7,000 participants across 90 in-person and virtual pre-opening programs, including film screenings, literary discussions, walking tours, and Sukkah City x DC, an outdoor installation of creative sukkahs designed by regional architects that was held in partnership with the National Building Museum and Edlavitch DCJCC and that received funding support from HumanitiesDC.
 Preparation for opening. We have built the new museum from the ground up, and are finalizing the 1876 historic synagogue preservation. We will have our Certificate of Occupancy in August. We have more than 50 new collections and have digitized more than 600 images and objects from our archive, which represents just 1% of our collection. We have hired key staff, including our new executive director, Ivy L. Barsky, who brings 30 years of museum leadership experience, including as CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History and as deputy director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. We also hired a chief operating officer, a communications specialist, and a museum educator.