Jewish museum in Istanbul is a cultural center established by the Quincentennial Foundation to inform the society of the traditions and history of Turkish Jewry. It was inaugurated on November 25, 2001. The Quincentennial Foundation was established in 1989 by 113 Turkish citizens, Jews and Muslims alike, to celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of Sephardim's arrival to the Ottoman Empire. The idea of a museum was proposed by Naim Guleryuz who is now its curator and the foundation was financed by the prominent Jewish Kamhi family.

The museum building, formerly known as Zulfaris Synagogue, was restored and remodelled to suit a museum. There is evidence that this synagogue existed in 1671, and its foundations suggest that another structure was built during the colony of the Republic of Genoa. It was recorded as "Holy Sinavi (Synagogue) in Galata " or "Kal Kados Galata", it was called as "Zulfaris" which is thought to have derived from the Persian word "Zulf-u Arus", meaning "the fringe of a bride". However the actual building was re-erected over its original foundations presumably in the early 19th century, probably in 1823.