The end of Passover and the Maroccan Jewish “Mimunah”.
We have come to the last day of Passover and every Jew with Moroccan background is looking forward to the sweets and the special pancakes (“ mufletta”) of the “Mimunah”.

I remember the first time I was introduced to this way of ending the Jewish holiday of “Pessach” (Passover). It was 1985 and I was a volunteer in a kibbutz called Alonim on the main road between Haifa and Nazareth. A friend of mine in the kibbutz told me that the Moroccan Jews were making sweets and that they opened up their homes to everybody who would enjoy the sweets with them. I was curious to check this out so we decided to go and visit some Moroccans that he knew of….
There were lots of Moroccan Jews living in a place called Migdal ha’Emek so we decided to go there. The car was parked and we heard cheerful noises from many places. Every Moroccan family had left the entrance door to their homes wide open for people to enter and enjoy their sweets with them. I had never experienced anything like this before. We entered a home and were well received. The house was packed with people standing around a table with home made sweets of kinds that were unfamiliar to me. I had never seen carrots completely soaked and dripping with honey and I had never tasted anything as sweet as that before.

There are a few theories concerning the reasons for celebrating “Mimunah”.
Some people say that it has to do with the redemption of the People of Israel in the future just as they were redeemed from Egypt in the past.
Some say that it has to do with a memorial day for the father of the famous Moroccan Maimonides as he passed away on this day.
Others again say that it has to do with some kind of a “New Year” celebration as it is close to the harvest and could be the beginning of a new financial year. The greetings for this celebration is “May you be prosperous and may you be happy!”

What I know the best is that my daughter loves the “muflettas” of this evening and that she is very disappointed if we don’t go to visit somebody who makes them.
A “mufletta” is a thin kind of pancake served with honey. It is so thin you can almost see through it.
What a lovely way to end the “Feast of the Unleavened Bread”.

Tomorrow the “Mimunah” is continued by having a barbeque in the park. Every Moroccan Jewish family will bring food enough for “an entire army” and spend the day under the trees while keeping the coal glowing from the morning on.

I am fortunate to have married a Moroccan…..

Elin Elkouby