(Jewish Group) Mimouna: Young Moroccan Jews celebrate end of Passover in global coexistence events
A group of young Jews of Moroccan heritage are trying to bring the Mimouna holiday back to life across the globe with activities, events and publicity rounds. The Mimouna holiday is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner that is affiliated with Moroccan Judaism. It usually takes place where Jews of Maghrebi ("western" ) heritage live. It takes place annually the night the Passover holiday ends when halacha permits the return to eating hametz (leavened bread, etc.), which is forbidden throughout Passover.
The initiative is called Global Mimouna. One of its founders, Yona Abeddour, made aliyah from Morocco in 2016. He told The Jerusalem Post that “Mimouna continues to be a living story of how Jews and Muslims thrive and celebrate side by side in Morocco and other parts of North Africa. This historic legacy of friendship and cooperation lives on today and through Global Mimouna, we intend to transmit it around the world.”
Abeddour explained that the Global Mimouna is an initiative to provide a wide community with the tools and ingredients needed to organize and host Mimouna celebrations in their own homes: “Through our website, we hope that we have taken the first step in making it easy; through sharing resources, recipes, music, history, etc.” He added that the “idea is to encourage Jews and non-Jews, Moroccans and non-Moroccans, Sephardi and Ashkenazi alike to host Mimouna and open their doors and hearts to neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds.”
The project began in 2019 as a vision of three Sephardic individuals.
Its founders, Sandra Yerushalmi, Shimon G. Levy and Abeddour wanted to share meaningful stories of celebration, coexistence, and prosperity through Mimouna. They were inspired by other initiatives where stories and traditions are passed from one generation to the next. “We felt compelled that the newer generation picks up the torch of this long-standing tradition,” Abeddour said.
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