Mimouna (מימונה, ميمونة)

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Mimouna is a fun celebratory dinner and party that takes place right after Pesach (Passover), full of delicious food made with chametz (leavening) that was forbidden during the past eight days. It comes from the North African Maghrebi community (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), though because of the post-1948 ethnic cleansing of 850,000 Jews in the Middle East and North Africa, it’s primarily celebrated in Israel and Diaspora communities today.

The only place in North Africa where Mimouna is still celebrated is Morocco, which currently has about 2,000–2,500 Jews (mostly in Casablanca). To their great credit, Morocco has restored about 110 synagogues and maintains the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, the only Jewish museum in the entire Arab world. The Diaspora Jewish community has a very friendly, mutually respectful relationship with Morocco and King Mohammad VI.

The celebration of Mimouna is said to date back to Antiquity, though it’s only been attested to in writing since the mid-18th century. There are a number of possible etymologies:

A similarity to the Hebrew words emunah (faith) and ani ma’amin (I believe). In Arabic, word order of the latter is reversed, changing it into ma’amin ana, and, in Judeo–Arabic, maimouna.

The birthday or death anniversary of Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef, the father of the great scholar Maimonides (Moshe ben Maimon).

The Arabic word ma’amoun (protected by God), which figuratively translates as “wealth” and “good luck.” On the day of Mimouna on the Hebrew calendar, the dead Egyptians in the Sea of Reeds were said to have washed up on the shore, and with them gold and jewelry.

Manna, the miraculous substance which fed the Israelites through forty years of wandering in the desert, and which tasted like whatever the eater wanted it to taste like.

The name of a Berber goddess.

After nightfall on the final night of Pesach, people are permitted to buy back the chametz products they ceremonially sold to Gentiles, and to open the taped-shut cupboards and drawers containing chametz in their own homes. Thus, cooking, baking, and eating all those forbidden foods can begin again immediately.

Maghrebis, like all other non-Ashkenazic Jews, don’t have a prohibition against eating kitniyot (Iegumes) during Pesach, so their diets are far less restrictive. Since I began observing the holiday at age nineteen, I’ve followed the Italian custom, which also allows kitniyot. I couldn’t imagine not eating rice, corn, chickpeas, beans, peanuts, and lentils based on holdover fears from the Middle Ages!

According to tradition, we crossed the Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds (erroneously translated as the Red Sea by many historical sources), on the final day of Pesach. We saw the power of God, who saved us from the Egyptians with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and our faith was strengthened. Mimouna celebrates the memory of that redemption, and our belief in a coming Messianic Age.

After making and setting out a sensational smorgasbord of sweets, people open their homes to visitors. Also on the tables are symbols of luck and fertility, particularly arranged in fives; e.g., five beans on a leaf, five gold coins, five wheat stalks, five live fish in a bowl. Five is an important number in Maghrebi and Mizrachi Judaism because there are five fingers on the hamsa symbol. The word hamsa means “five” in Arabic.

Traditionally, people go to the sea on the last day of Pesach in preparation for Mimouna, splash their faces with water, and walk barefoot in the sea to recreate the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. (As a water-lover who’s long dreamt of living right on an ocean or lake, and who wants to someday be buried at sea, I would love to do this ritual!)

Prior to the party, celebrants go to an orchard to recite the blessing over fir trees (Birkat HaIlanot), selected Proverbs, and passages from the Mishnah.

When people arrive at the party, they’re sprinkled with a sprig of mint or other greenery dipped in milk, which represents new beginnings and good luck. (This didn’t happen at the Mimouna party I attended in 2014, the source of the food photos in this post.)

Libyans make round challah with a hard-boiled egg in the middle, held in place by strips of dough. Another popular food is moufleta, a thin pancake like a crêpe, covered in jam, honey, syrup, chopped nuts, butter, or dried fruits.

Golden rings are hidden in a bowl of flour, representing blessings and wealth everyone hopes for.

Many people celebrate Mimouna into the next day, with outings to parks, beaches, and fields with picnics, barbecues, and more parties. It’s also traditional to go to a cemetery. Today, the main celebration is held by Sacher Park in Jerusalem.