How Do You End Passover?

Rabbi Melanie Aron

Friday, April 7, 2006

Before we had children who were milk allergic, we would go out for pizza when it got dark.

In Brooklyn, someone would go out early the morning after for fresh bagels.

In Israel today - Passover ends with a big festival called Maimouna in which millions of Israeli's, in sixty cities and communities throughout the country participate.

Now, how is it that something significant enough to bring million people to Gan Sacher, the Central Park of Jerusalem, including Israel's President and Prime Minister, is so totally unknown here in America?

Once a month on Thursday mornings, I teach a class called "Not Every Jewish Woman Makes Gefilte Fish. We've been studying the rich culture of Jewish communities outside the Ashkenazi world and thinking about what multiculturalism might mean within the Jewish community.

This ties into something we noticed in Israel on this recent trip. Things have changed over the years. The Ashkenazi Kibbutzhiks no longer dominate the political and cultural life of Israel. There are only three Kibbutz members in the new Knesset. There are now prominent Mizrachi Israeli's in every sphere of Israeli life. Even the museums we visited reflected this change in emphasis as non-European Jews, the old minority, are now the majority in Israel.

Maimouna is a longstanding tradition of Moroccan Jewry. Some think the name comes from Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon- Rambam, Maimonides who was revered by Moroccan Jewry. Others claim the word Maimouna comes from the Hebrew-Emunah-faith, especially confidence in the coming of the Messiah.

The Talmud teaches that just as the Israelites were redeemed on the eve of the 15th of Nisan, so are we destined to be redeemed in the future on the full moon of the spring month.

As Passover ends, the moon wanes and we realize that the Messiah has not come this year. We express our faith in ultimate redemption as Maimonides expressed in the 12th of his 13 articles of faith.

Maimounah as celebrated in Morocco also had a practical aspect. Jewish families brought baskets of Passover goodies to their neighbors on the afternoon of the last day of Passover, and received in return gifts of milk, yogurt, flour and yeast. The yeast was used to prepare the first bread eaten after the holiday.

There are lots of customs associated with Maimouna ranging from it being a time for arranging matches, to study of the first verse of each of the chapters of Pirke Avot, getting you off on the right foot for the six weeks remaining until Shavuot.

May we begin and end our Passover celebration this year with emunah, faith, in good times to come, and a spirit of celebration.