Back to Bread: Israelis celebrate Mimouna

Passover holiday comes to end with Israelis attending traditional Moroccan-Jewish festivals; millions tour country during holiday.

By LAHAV HARKOV, JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu at Mimouna (photo credit: Avishag Shar Yashuv)
Netanyahu at Mimouna
(photo credit: Avishag Shar Yashuv)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attended a Mimouna celebration in Or Akiva on Monday night, marking the end of Passover.
"The People of Israel should earn and succeed," Netanyahu said, making the traditional blessing for the Moroccan-Jewish festival.
"We are moving from matza and maror to mufletta and honey. Thank you to the police and security branches who protected those who toured during the holiday."
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni was also among the politicians celebrating at Mimounas across the country.
Livni took to her Facebook page to express her joy in the tradition.\
“It’s a custom of happiness and sweetness, not another day of matzot or fasting,” Livni wrote on her Facebook wall, adding that celebrating the traditionally Moroccan festival had become a "political necessity."
“Finally, an end to matzot,” she wrote.
Israelis headed back to work on Tuesday morning after more than two million people visited Jewish National Fund forests and sites and some 1.2 million people visited the country's natural parks and nature reserves during the Passover holiday.
This year saw the largest number of visitors to KKL-JNF's forests and national parks, KKL-JNS chairman Efi Stenzler said. Visitors were allowed free entrance to the sites for all days of the holiday.
A 10-15 percent raise in the number of visitors was noted this year, as it was in the previous year.