BOTSWANA (previously Basutoland): Approximately 100 Jews live in Botswana today. Nearly all of the Jewish community live in Gaborone. The majority of the Jewish community is Israeli and work in agriculture, business and industry. On the High Holidays, a rabbi is provided for the community by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Because there is no established synagogue, services are either conducted in one of the congregants’ houses or in a communal center. Sometimes Friday night Shabbat services are held, with one of the congregants leading the prayers. Jews are buried in non-Jewish cemeteries. A number of prominent Jewish farmers and traders contributed in many ways to the development of this sparsely populated vast country.
A number of Jews were prominent farmers and traders , and contributed in many ways to the development of this sparsely populated, vast country. Jews settled in many of the smaller African countries between 1880 and 1930. Some were previously British Colonies or Protectorates, others Portuguese or Belgian. Some of these communities have dwindled in numbers or even vanished. Information for most of these places is sparse. An African Jewish Congress has been established. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft is the spiritual leader, and travels extensively to visit remaining Jews and to photograph cemeteries (over 14,000 tombstones recorded to date), old synagogues and look after areas of Jewish importance.
GABORONE: A small contemporary Jewish community exists in 2000. Jews are buried among others in non-Jewish cemeteries.
Source: Spiritual Leader to the Botswana Jewish community, Moshe Silberhaft, member of the African Jewish Congress and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
In 1993, Israel and Botswana renewed diplomatic relations after several years of disagreement. Israel is represented in Botswana by the Israeli ambassador in Zimbabwe.
The names of some of the South East African and Central African countries have changed. The countries listed below were British. All had significant small Jewish communities except Tanganyika, Uganda and Nyasaland.
Botswana: previously Bechuanaland (British)
Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika were grouped together as British Colonies prior to independence.
Lesotho: previously Basutoland (British)
Malawi: previously Nyasaland (British)
Tanganyika: was German East Africa prior to World War I
Tanzania: previously a combination of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (British).
Zambia: previously Northern Rhodesia (British)
Zimbabwe: previously Southern Rhodesia (British)
Mauritius, an island in the Indian ocean, has been French and British.
