Mimouna

File:Mufletta.JPG

Though the practice only began to be recorded in the middle of the 18th century,{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2021}} its derivation and etymology are ancient. Possible derivations for the name Mimouna include:

• The name of Maimonides' father Maymun. Mimouna might mark the date of his birth or death
• {{langx|he|אמונה|ʾəmunā|links=no}} "faith" or {{langx|he|מאמין|maʾmunā|links=no}} "I believe"
• The Arabic word for "wealth" or "good luck" as on this day, according to the midrash, the gold and jewelry of the drowned Egyptians washed up on the shore of the Red Sea and enriched the Israelites. Mimouna is associated with faith and belief in immediate prosperity, as seen in its customs of matchmaking, and well-wishes for successful childbearing.
• Manna, which was the food God provided following the Exodus, and during the subsequent wandering in the desert.
• The name of a Berber goddess is also a possible etymology.{{Cite news|last=Lieber|first=Ron|date=2018-04-02|title=Celebrating Mimouna and Its Dose of Post-Passover Carbs|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/dining/mimouna-passover-moroccan-feast.html|access-date=2021-08-08|issn=0362-4331}}

Mimouna celebrates belief in both the Exodus and the future Messianic redemption: "In Nisan (the month in which Passover falls), the Jews were redeemed and in Nisan they will be redeemed in the future. When Passover ends and the Jews are still not redeemed, the Moroccan Jews do not lose their faith; as the Sages said: 'Even if he tarries, I will expect him every day.'"

It was at the crossing of the Yam Suph on the final day of Passover that the entire nation witnessed the awesome power and might of God which was an experience that strengthened their faith. "And when Israel saw the wondrous power which tetragrammaton had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared {{lang|he|יהוה}}; they had faith in {{lang|he|יהוה}} and in God’s servant Moses." – {{bibleverse-lb||Exodus|14:31|HE}}

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The celebration begins after nightfall on the last day of Passover. In many communities, non-Jewish neighbors sell chametz back to Jewish families as a beginning of the celebration. Moroccan and Algerian Jews throw open their homes to visitors, after setting out a lavish spread of traditional holiday cakes and sweetmeats. One of the holiday favorites is mofletta. The table is also laid with various symbols of luck and fertility, with an emphasis on the number five, such as five pieces of gold jewelry or five beans arranged on a leaf of pastry. The repetition of the number five references the five-fingered amulet called the hamsa common in North African and Middle Eastern communities of all faiths since premodern times.{{cite web |last=Bin-Nun |first=Yigal |date=8 April 2007 |title=Lady Luck: In Morocco, Mimouna was a feast day designed to appease a local she-devil, and contained no religious components. In Israel, however, its pagan origins have been ignored |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/lady-luck-1.217597 |access-date=21 June 2011 |work=Haaretz}}

Typically all those in attendance at a Mimouna celebration are sprinkled with a mint sprig or other green dipped in milk, symbolizing good fortune and new beginnings. Early in the day of the Mimouna, families go to the sea, splash water on their face, and walk barefoot in the water, to replay the scene of the miraculous crossing of the Yam Suph, which is held to have taken place on the last day of Passover. In Morocco, Jewish families prepared flour, honey, milk, and butter to be used to prepare post-Passover hametz celebration dinners.[http://jwa.org/blog/eating-jewish-mufleta Eating Jewish: Mufleta] Jews would walk to an orchard to recite Birkat Ha'Ilanot and recite passages from the Book of Proverbs and the Mishna.

Celebrating the Mimouna in Israel began in 1966. The first mass picnic was organized in Ben Shemen by a community activist, Shaul Ben Shimhon, who saw it as a way of unifying the North African Jewish community. This event was attended by 300 people, but the following year it attracted 3,000. By 1970, the main event in Jerusalem drew tens of thousands.[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-04-11/ty-article/.premium/a-brief-history-of-the-post-passover-mimouna-holiday/00000180-6562-d5ca-a986-7f6f9a8d0000 A brief history of Mimouna, Haaretz] Now Mimouna is an annual happening featuring outdoor parties, picnics and BBQs. The central event is held in Jerusalem’s Sacher Park, drawing large crowds and Israeli politicians. Israeli law requires employers to grant an employee unpaid leave for Mimouna if requested.{{cite news |last=Jeffay |first=Nathan |date=12 April 2012 |title=Mimouna Revelries Mark End of Passover |newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward |url=http://forward.com/articles/153868/mimouna-revelries-mark-end-of-passover/ |access-date=22 July 2013}} One source estimated that in 2012 nearly two million people in Israel participated in Mimouna festivities.

{{Portal|Morocco|Judaism}}

• Culture of Morocco
• Culture of Israel
• Moroccan Jews in Israel
• Jewish holidays

{{Reflist

|refs =

{{cite web

| last = Enkin

| first = Ari

| title = Mimouna: A Moroccan Jewish Celebration

| website = unitedwithisrael.org

| date = April 13, 2014

| url = http://unitedwithisrael.org/mimouna/

| access-date = September 23, 2015

}}

{{cite book

| last = Waskow

| first = Arthur

| title = Seasons of Our Joy: A Modern Guide to the Jewish Holidays

| publisher = Beacon

| year = 1990

| location = Boston

| pages = 133–164

| isbn = 978-0807036112

}}

{{cite web |title=Une fête peu connue en Europe, La Mimouna |url = http://www.harissa.com/news/article/une-f%C3%AAte-peu-connue-en-europe-la-mimouna |website=Harissa.com |access-date=22 July 2013 |language= fr |date=25 March 2013 }}

{{cite web

| last = Jewish Agency

| title = Mimouna

| website = jewishagency.org

| publisher = The Jewish Agency for Israel

| date = June 26, 2005

| url = http://www.jewishagency.org/mimouna/content/24061

| access-date = September 23, 2015

| archive-date = September 25, 2015

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925133432/http://www.jewishagency.org/mimouna/content/24061

| url-status = dead

}}

{{cite web

| last = Jewish Agency

| title = Mimouna Customs

| website = jewishagency.org

| publisher = The Jewish Agency for Israel

| date = May 11, 2015

| url = http://www.jewishagency.org/mimouna/content/37171

| access-date = September 23, 2015

| archive-date = September 25, 2015

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925133421/http://www.jewishagency.org/mimouna/content/37171

| url-status = dead

}} Formerly, this wikipedia article referred to a currently unavailable page that might have been this source's predecessor:{{cite web |url=http://www.jafi.org.il/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/Compelling+Content/Jewish+Time/Festivals+and+Memorial+Days/Mimouna/Mimouna+in+Israel.htm |title=Mimouna in Israel |publisher=Jewish Agency for Israel |year=2011 |access-date=22 July 2013 }}

Sharaby, Rachel. "Political Activism and Ethnic Revival of a Cultural Symbol." Ethnicities 11.4. 495

}}

• [http://www.mimouna.net/ History of the Moroccan Jews] {{in lang|fr}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080530022052/http://www.amsterdamsezelf.org/organisaties/Maimon/index.htm Stichting Maimon] {{in lang|nl}}
• Kordova, Shoshana. "[http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/word-of-the-day/word-of-the-day-mimouna.premium-1.512976 Word of the Day / Mimouna]." Haaretz. April 2, 2013.
• {{cite journal

| last = Goldberg

| first = Harvey E.

| title = The Mimuna and the Minority Status of Moroccan Jews

| journal = Ethnology

| publisher = University of Pittsburgh

| volume = 17

| issue = 1

| pages = 77

| date = 1978

| location = Pittsburgh

| jstor = 377328

| doi = 10.2307/3773281

}}

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Category:Jews and Judaism in Algeria

Category:Jews and Judaism in Morocco

Category:Minor Jewish holidays

Category:Nisan observances

Category:Passover

Category:Public holidays in Israel

Category:Arabic words and phrases