IDF veteran Dotan Bados has never let the permanent wounds suffered in military service stop him from organizing the annual post-Passover “Mimunah” celebration in the north.

Nor will this year be an exception, vowed the 33-year-old insurance agent, despite the fact that thieves broke into his home on the first night of Passover.

Bados and his family returned from celebrating the holiday in Kiryat Shmonah to discover that his house had been emptied of equipment, drinks and the authentic ethnic items for the Moroccan Jewish celebration.

But Bados doesn’t have time to feel sorry for himself about his injuries or the break-in, according to a report published in the Hebrew-language daily Maariv newspaper – he is too busy racing to replace the lost items.

The stolen property included a special transport container filled with imported authentic Moroccan furniture, cloth and jewelry.

Dozens of the best Moroccan singers will be on hand at the annual event, which is attended by thousands, including local and national celebrities, such as former Foreign Minister David Levy.

The seventh night of Passover – which begins the eighth day of the holiday outside of Israel – Sephardic Jews from Morocco and other North African communities celebrate with special foods and music at Mimuna festivals around the country.

Moroccan Jewish Life, Past and Present

A special exhibition marking the traditional Mimuna event is also slated to open on April 23 at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. “Morocco: Photos by Elias Harrus and Pauline Prior” will run from April 24 to September 18 2009.

The exhibit will feature photos of the Jews of southern Morocco, snapped in the 1950s by photographer Elias Harrus just before the community moved to Israel.

A follow-up by Dutch photographer Pauline Prior came when she was sent by the Museum to the region in 2008 to photograph what remains of the Jewish community there today. Harrus, a Moroccan Jew himself, was not available; he died in 2008.

Prior snapped shots of Jewish life in Casablanca, the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains.