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Pictured: Non-resident Israli Ambassador to Namibia Gershon Kedar; Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, CEO of the African Jewish Coingress; and Namibian President Hage Geingob, at State House in Windhoek, where the President received the book “The Jewish Community of South West Africa Namibia: A History”.
President Geingob thanked the Jewish community for what its members had done to develop Namibia in the post-independence era.
For his part, Rabbi Silberhaft thanked the President for the friendship shown by himself and his predecessors to the Jewish community and – on behalf of the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation – presented him with a copy of the book, “The Jewish Community of South West Africa Namibia: A History”.
The book, which was nearly 25 years in the making, chronicles in extensive detail the story of Jewish life in Namibia, commencing even before the German colonial occupation through to the early 21st century.
In addition to recounting the many and diverse ways in which Jews have, to a remarkably disproportionate extent, contributed to the building of the modern-day Republic of Namibia, it is a veritable treasure trove of genealogical information. Copies can be obtained through Rabbi Silberhaft (Thetravellingrabbi@gmail.com) or Laurie Pieters (lauray@iway.na).
In the evening, Ambassador Kedar and Rabbi Silberhaft jointly addressed the local Jewish community. In addition to Namibia, Kedar is responsible for Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
