About Us

The Claremont Wynberg Hebrew Congregation (Kehillat Agudat Achim) is a vibrant, warm and dynamic Orthodox shul in the upmarket Southern Suburbs of Cape Town.

Our aim and goal is to be a community centre where people of all ages feel welcome and enthusiastic to participate in the many services and activities we have to offer. The shul is a combination of the former Claremont and Wynberg Congregations, both of which functioned independently for more than a century and joined forces in 2006. The Shul is a proud member of the Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) of South Africa, an umbrella body of all Orthodox congregations in the country.

Our community is made up of some six hundred families across the spectrum of religious observance from the fully committed 'shomrei mitzvot' to the 'three-time a year' Jew.

We are privileged to have two rabbinical couples - Rabbi and Mrs Liebenberg, who focus on all communal matters, and Rabbi and Mrs Hecht, who concentrate on the youth and young adults portfolios. The Shul’s emeritus rabbi is Rabbi Dr Ivan Lerner who, together with his wife, Arleeta, transformed the Shul into a major educational and social force during their decade-long tenure in Cape Town. Our dedicated office team, headed up by executive director, Robbie Friedman, ensures that the Shul runs smoothly and professionally.

The Shul is located in the leafy neighbourhood of Claremont, under the majestic Devil's Peak section of Table Mountain. We are conveniently situated close to many tourist spots, places of accommodation and shopping destinations including the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the trendy Cavendish shopping mall, the elegant Vineyard Hotel and the Newlands Cricket and Rugby Stadia.

The Shul offers daily prayer services as well as a host of religious, social and educational programmes for all ages. We have a fun and well organised youth service and regular young adults activities. We are also the hosts of the renowned Jewish Emphasis Week (JEW) and Women's Learning week (WLW) programmes, which are major highlights on Cape Town's Jewish calendar. On Shabbat we encourage our congregants to participate in the services, which are ably lead by our ba'al tefillah, Gideon Kaufmann.

We have a beautiful campus featuring a large traditional shul; a smaller, ultra-modern Beit Midrash; youth facilities and a banqueting hall with milk kitchen. We also host the Book Centre, a privately owned Judaica store where one can order and purchase books, CD's and other items of a religious nature. We employ our very own caterer to manage your function or simchah and our sit-down kiddush brachah on Shabbat mornings has become the talk of the town. We also sell a large selection of ready- to-eat foods, including home-style challot on Friday morning and a host of other pastries and goodies.

All of our food products are under strict supervision and are classified as either parev or milchick.

We look forward to hosting you at our shul when you are next in Cape Town!

Shalom u'Brachah!