The Jewish presence in Lesotho can be traced back to the Second Boer War of 1864-1865, when German Jewish immigrant Moritz Leviseur fought for the Free State forces invading the country.

Throughout Lesotho’s colonial period, several small European Jewish communities developed in Lesotho (then Basutoland).

A small flow of Jewish immigration from Europe prior to the Second World War led to an increase in Lesotho’s Jewish population.

Today there are around 6 permanent Jewish residents there – although a handful of expatriate Jews have lived in Lesotho on a temporary basis, usually for business purposes.

There is currently no practicing Jewish community or religious institution. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, ministers to the Lesotho Jewish Community, as he does to small communities across Southern Africa.