By LAHAV HARKOVPassover(photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
When Passover ends on Saturday night, people around the country will be able to celebrate the return of leavened bread to their diets all night long, as it will be the first time regulations exempting Mimouna from noise laws will go into effect.Mimouna is a holiday marked on the day after Passover by Jews of Moroccan and other North African origin, and many others have joined in the celebrations since the tradition was imported to Israel.The holiday is usually celebrated outdoors, with picnics and barbecues featuring traditional Moroccan dress, music and dancing, as well as food, especially moufleta, a sweet pancake.MKs across the political spectrum are known to take part in and give speeches at Mimouna celebrations around the country, while other festivities revolve around religious figures and are held at rabbis’ homes.This year, Mimouna celebrations will be able to last longer than they have in decades, because a regulation went into effect making it, as well as Lag Ba’omer, additional exemptions to noise laws prohibiting the use of a loudspeaker outdoors in a residential area after 11 p.m. The law previously only allowed noise all night on Purim, Independence Day and Jerusalem Day.MK Miki Zohar, who proposed the bill, which was later passed as an ordinance, said: “Mimouna is a national holiday for all of Israel, and it is appropriate to celebrate it without limitations.“I’m happy that Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay cooperated and understood the importance of changing the law,” Zohar said. “Mimouna... is a holiday of brotherhood and friendship and ingathering of exiles, and I say to all those celebrating: Tarbahu u’tsaadu.”Tarbahu u’tsaadu is the traditional Mimouna greeting, which means, “May you prosper and be successful.”