The Travelling Rabbi

From Musina in the furthest north to Mossel Bay on the distant southern Cape coast, from Springbok in the far west to Mbombela on the very edge of the country’s eastern border, there are few places in South Africa with a Jewish presence that Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft has not travelled to. For over three decades, he has been the public face of Judaism in places where few Jews live today. For hundreds of his far-flung brethren, he has been a living connection to fellow Jews living in the main urban centres. 

In his first book, The Travelling Rabbi – My African Tribe, Rabbi Silberhaft recounted the highlights of his first twenty years as rabbi on the road – the people he met, the many and varied places he visited and the compelling stories behind the communities that once flourished there and where, even today, a Jewish presence remains. This latest book picks up the story from where its much-acclaimed predecessor left off and takes it up to the present day.

A fascinating record of a religious mentor and guide who, over the decades, has established himself as a unique personality in the world of Jewish communal leadership. 

Rabbi Silberhaft began his life-long vocation in 1993, when he was appointed as Spiritual Leader to the Country Communities Department of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, and thereafter as CEO and Spiritual Leader of the Small Jewish Communities Association of South Africa. Parallel to this, Rabbi Silberhaft is also the long-serving CEO and Spiritual Leader to the African Jewish Congress. In this capacity, he works closely with the Jewish communities of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, and other Sub-Saharan African countries with Jewish presence.