April 25, 2011
Mimouna festival stresses ‘Love the convert’
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Two million Israelis are expected to take part in the traditional North African Mimouna festival.
The festival to celebrate fraternity, abundance and good luck is held at the end of Passover; It will take place Monday evening.
The World Federation of Moroccan Jewry announced that the theme of this year’s festival will be “Love the convert,” in the wake of the controversial proposed conversion bill and the shadows of doubt cast over IDF conversions.
“We will be stressing the divine commandment, which appears in the Bible 45 times in different variations, to love, draw near, help and embrace the convert who wishes to join our people,” Federation Chairman Sam Ben-Chetrit said in a statement. “This stands in contrast to the fact that only once are we commanded to love God. This shows the importance of the command for God’s sake.”
A special panel on converts and conversion will take place in Ashkelon on Tuesday as part of the official Mimouna events.
