Welcome to our What's New page! Here we list events around the San Francisco Bay Area that are of interest to those who want to learn more about Judaism.
Mimouna: A Post Passover Holiday!
Passover ends rather quietly in much of the world, but the Moroccan, and now Israeli, Jewish community do it so well! They have the holiday of Mimouna. In a burst of returning to eating yeast leavened food and drink they have a feast. It may be too late to plan such an event this year, but put it on your planner for next year.
Originally observed in the home, the holiday has spread to the public realm in Israel. Here’s a nice overview of the holiday. Be sure to watch the Israeli video suggesting that celebrants invite an Ashkenazi Jew to join their festival. I’d love to be there too!
As I researched Mimouna recipes mufleta kept coming up. So here’s a recipe.
This article offers some research into the origins of the holiday. You’ll notice the reference to Berbers, an Arab people of North Africa. My son’s closest friend growing up is the son of a Berber man and an American woman. The Berbers are a minority community and our friend, the father of Samir, told me that when he was growing up in the mountains of Algeria the Berbers and the Jews lived together in peace. In fact, his village elected a Jewish mayor and when the Nazis came they refused to give him over to them.
While researching Mimouna I learned more about the origins of his people, the Berbers. They are part of the “Maghribis”.
“Maghrebis were known in medieval times as the Roman Africans or Moors. The term Moor is derived from Mauri, the Roman name for the Berbers of Mauretania, land of the Moors, the Roman name for the western part of the Maghreb.”
Quote is from Wikipedia
(I love the way one topic leads to another.)
Back to Mimouna…
More recipes and pictures of food are in this article from the Jewish Journal.
Cookies and small sweets laden the Mimouna table, so here are some cookie recipes from a secular paper, the Milwaukee Journal.
PJ Library has collected some fun videos about Mimouna here. Included is a Shalom Sesame video of a little girl celebrating Mimouna with her family and friends in Israel. It’s a nice window into another Jewish community.
Yom HaShoah
The next Jewish Observance is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. This year it falls from the evening of Mon, Apr 17 to the evening of Tue, Apr 18, 2023.
It always feels too soon after Passover, but there are so many dates on our calendar...
From HebCal.com:
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה; “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day”), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day and public holiday. It was inaugurated on 1953, anchored by a law signed by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (April/May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to Shabbat, in which case the date is shifted by a day.
In Israel, at 10am local time, an air raid siren is sounded throughout the country and Israelis are expected to observe two minutes of reflection. It is quite dramatic as people stop their cars and get out EVERYWHERE. You can see this freeway take a two minute pause in this video.
There will be memorial gatherings around the Bay Area; stay tuned.