Customs and traditions - Mother Tongue

Afghanistan

Herat

Counting of the Omer

Education, Sukkot and holiday customs

Engagement and wedding customs

Making matzot for Passover

Making matzot in Afghanistan

Passover customs

Prayer and special customs teaching

Rosh Hashana customs

Seliḥoth (Jewish penitential prayers)

Shavuot customs

Traditional family visit during the holidays

Tu BiShvat customs

Yom Kippur customs

Israel

The sister's wedding

Kabul

The sister's wedding

Algeria

El Oued (Souf)

Brit mila

Brit mila

Customs and holiday foods

Hafrashat ḥalla (separating the ḥalla)

Keening

Lighting candles for Shabbat and holidays

Passover customs

Passover preparations

Passover Seder plate

Passover, Sukkot and Shabbat eve customs

Rosh Ḥodesh (first of the month) customs

Wedding and birth customs

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Oran

Wedding and ḥenna

Bukhara

Bishkek

Against the "evil eye" custom

Custom against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Godspeed custom

Godspeed custom

Dushanbe

Foods and food related traditions

Passover Seder (part A)

Samarkand

Against the "evil eye" custom

Bereavement customs among the Bukharan Jewish community

Brit, wedding and dating

Custom against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Foods and food related traditions

Godspeed custom

Godspeed custom

Keeping kosher and mikve

Passover Seder (part B)

Synagogues, making matzot, Sukkot and shechita

Shahrisabz

Against the "evil eye" custom

Custom against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Godspeed custom

Godspeed custom

Tashkent

Bar mitzva and school

Bereavement customs

Help with raising children, birth and folk beliefs about birth

Keeping kosher and mikve

Caucasus

Baku

Bereavement customs

Bereavement customs

Engagement, marriage and family life

Matchmaking, engagement, wedding and ḥenna

Derbent

Holidays and customs

Jewish tradition and the connection to Israel

Matchmaking, engagement and wedding

Tishʿa BeʾAv and bereavement costumes

Wedding and bar mitzva

Wedding customs

Women's customs, women in the arts and culture

Mountain Jews (Dagestan)

Bar mitzva

Bereavement customs and her mother's death

Birth, naming and children's care

Engagement and wedding

Matchmaking and introduction with the spouse

Nalchik

Wedding and bar mitzva

Quba

Bereavement customs

Bereavement customs

Engagement, marriage and family life

Matchmaking, engagement, wedding and ḥenna

Qusar

Synagogue, rabbis, Shabbat and kashrut

Egypt

Cairo

Birth, brit mila, bar and bat mitzva

Death and bereavement

Matchmaking and wedding

Moses' fountain and the Abuhatzeira family's tombs

My grandmother and Purim customs

Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur customs

Sayings, proverbs, songs and blessings

Europe: Western

Endingen

Children games in Ḥanukka

Newlyweds customs and Ḥanukka games

Strolling around Baden, wedding and birth customs, Shabbat cooking, Sukkot and lullabies

Izmir

Jerusalem-Sephardic women's stories and customs

Passover and its customs

Shabbat customs and foods and the Jewish community

Lengnau (Switzerland)

Newlyweds customs and Ḥanukka games

Lucerne

Children games in Ḥanukka

Milan

Jerusalem-Sephardic women's stories and customs

Passover and its customs

Milan (Italy)

Shabbat customs and foods and the Jewish community

Zurich (Switzerland)

Children games in Ḥanukka

Strolling around Baden, wedding and birth customs, Shabbat cooking, Sukkot and lullabies

Georgia

Kulashi

Bereavement customs

Life in Georgia and Israel, bar and bat mitzva

Religious world, Jewish courts and tension against communism

Oni

Women's status, passing tradition from mother to daughter and birth

Greece

Aigio

Birth and its ceremonies

Ioannina

Blessings and amulets

Brit mila

Foods, customs and holidays

History and characteristics of the community

The community's customs and way of life: clothing, food, drink, mikve and natural remedies

Trikala

Bereavement customs and death of her brother

India

Chennamangalam

Midwife and medicinal herbs for a woman in confinement

Ernakulam

Midwife and medicinal herbs for a woman in confinement

Sets of clothing during the holidays

Male

Midwife and medicinal herbs for a woman in confinement

Mumbai

Adhering to kosher and learning Hebrew prayers

Brit mila and bar mitzva

Meat consumption during the holidays

Names, languages, relationships with non-Jews and burial customs

Wedding ceremonies

Iran

Arak

Birth

Family honors and values

Meeting her partner and ḥenna ceremony

Shavuot and Passover ceremonies

The home, the community and ceremonies

Virginity test on the wedding day

Bijar

Jewish holidays

Religion and belief

Shabbat customs

Borujerd

Birth and bar mitzva

Engagement and wedding

Bukan

Buying new clothes for Passover and a family meal in nature on the seventh day of Passover

Golpayegan

Birth

Bread and cheese and making

Family honors and values

Meeting her partner and ḥenna ceremony

Rivka's mother and bereavement customs

Shavuot and Passover ceremonies

The home, the community and ceremonies

Virginity test on the wedding day

Isfahan

Bereavement customs

Dating and wedding, pregnancy and birth

Foods, preparing wine and a special dish when a vow is fulfilled

Matchmaking and wedding preparations

Matchmaking, wedding, virginity test and giving birth

Seraḥ of ʾAsher and the Tomb of ʾEsther and Mordechai at Hamadan

Tradition, Shabbat and Passover

Wedding preparations

Israel

Wedding customs and songs

Istanbul

Bereavement customs

Holiday customs

Kashan

Wedding customs

Kerend

Foods, livelihood, wedding and mimouna

Kermanshah

Bar mitzva, wedding ceremonies and school

Nowruz (Iranian New Year)

Khorasan

Preparing candles on Yom Kippur

Nahawand

Mikve, wedding and brit mila

Qasr-e Shirin

The community's customs, traditions and way of living

Salmas

Bereavement customs

Holiday customs

Sanandaj

Rosh Ḥodesh (first of the month) customs

Shabbat: foods and customs

The synagogue, education and relationship with the Muslim neighbours

Saqqez

Bar mitzva and Shabbat

Engagement and wedding

The daughter's passing and bereavement customs

Shahandasht

Shechita and kashrut

Shiraz

Customs for Shabbat and Passover

Persian 'Mimouna' (Shiraz)

Takab

Wedding customs and songs

Teheran

Bereavement customs

Dating and wedding, pregnancy and birth

Foods, preparing wine and a special dish when a vow is fulfilled

Matchmaking, mikve, wedding and birth

Modesty and honor

Seraḥ of ʾAsher and the Tomb of ʾEsther and Mordechai at Hamadan

Shabbat and making wine

Tradition, Shabbat and Passover

Wedding customs

Tehran

Birth and birthdays

Dating, wedding and ḥenna

Food and showers

Use of incense and bereavement customs

Tekab

Bar mitzva

Brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Tuyserkan

Bereavement customs

Birth and brit mila

Etiquette and Hospitality

Honor and helping others

Yazd

Birth: folk beliefs, postpartum assistance, brit mila and giving birth to a son and a daughter

בוקאן

Walking to the river with his father before Shabbat and the family's Shabbat gathering

Iraq

Baghdad

Baghdad customs

Brit mila

Brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony) piyyutim and customs

Dowry, ḥenna and ḥenna songs

Ḥenna and ḥenna songs

Holiday dishes and customs

Immersion in the mikve

Iraqi song and culture

Passover Seder plate

Shabbat customs and foods

The community's customs

Wedding and holidays in Iraq

Baqubah

Purim

Basra

Pre-wedding traditions

Erbil

Kitchen work, bread and mea

Women's community, mikve, nidda and immersion before the wedding

Israel

Brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony) piyyutim and customs

Ḥenna and ḥenna songs

Iraqi song and culture

Israel

Hebron

Bar mitzva

Matchmaking, engagement and wedding

Jerusalem

Bar mitzva

Blessing after Grace after Meals in Judeo-Spanish

Her father who observes the Jewish tradition and Shabbat customs

Matchmaking, engagement and wedding

Passover, filling the bowel with wine custom and Rosh Hashana

Peqi'in

Kashrut (dietary laws)

Lighting candles

Synagogue

Thessaloniki

Her father who observes the Jewish tradition and Shabbat customs

Passover, filling the bowel with wine custom and Rosh Hashana

Tiberias

Eggs and sugar as present for giving birth

Kurdistan

Amedi

Bereavement customs and the Covenant of Isaac

Purim celebrations and breaking dry cow udders in the recitation of Haman

Baghdad

Birth and bereavement

Cemetery, women at funerals and washing the deceased

Koshering meat, the shochet (ritual butcher) and donating food to the poor

Showers near the river, bathing the babies and buying raw materials

Yom Kippur and refraining from showering for forty days on Tishʿa BeʾAv

Diana

Dating, wedding and brit mila

Holidays, kashrut and Shabbat

Duhok

Cemetery, women at funerals and washing the deceased

Koshering meat, the shochet (ritual butcher) and donating food to the poor

Showers near the river, bathing the babies and buying raw materials

Wedding, dating and ḥenna

Yom Kippur and refraining from showering for forty days on Tishʿa BeʾAv

Erbil

Bar mitzva

Female abduction, wedding and love songs

Wedding and bar mitzva

Hasnaka

Mikve, wedding and brit

Shechita, preserving the meat and preparing foods

Synagogue, Shabbat and Diwan

Mergasor

Dating, wedding and brit mila

Holidays, kashrut and Shabbat

Mosul

Birth and bereavement

Polygamy

Qapʾachʾan

Wedding and family

Rekan

Bar mitzva and education

Groom's Sabbath, matchmaking, immersion and ḥenna

Said 'ubed

Daily life and Shabbat preparation

Wedding and birth

Sanandaj

Birth, ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye), brit, wedding and Shabbat

Sandor

Mikve, wedding and brit

Shechita, preserving the meat and preparing foods

Synagogue, Shabbat and Diwan

Sulaymaniya

Purim foods, burning Haman and customs

Zakho

Birth and bereavement

Ḥacham Bashi and faith in the prophets

Jokes, songs and Night of Huza

Matchmaking, wedding and family compatibility

Mikve and Yom Kippur

Night of Hosha'ana Rabba

Passover customs

Passover preparations

Polygamy

Preparation of challah, shechita, food preservation and making ʿaraq (drink)

Rituals, the synagogue and the community

Rosh Hashana customs

Saharana

Six days before the Brit ceremony

Lebanon

Beirut

Bereavement customs

Holidays

Home remedies and ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Wedding

Beirut (Wadi Abu Jamil)

Bar mitzva, engagement and wedding

Lebanon's Jewish communities

Pilgrimage to holy tombs (Ziyarat)

Reading of the Ten Commandments

Libya

Az-Zawiya

Bsisa

Congratulations and greetings

Slat Ibn Shaif Synagogue

Benghazi

Bereavement customs and the name of the community's Rabbi

Blessings

Brit Yitzchak and bar mitzva

Holidays and customs (Purim, girls' Shabbat and ḥenna)

Protection against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye) and entering a new home

Israel

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

Janzur

Msallata

Bar mitzva, rabbis, wedding and brit mila

Matchmaking and wedding

Tripoli

Birth ceremonies

Community: life in communes, helping others, keeping mitzvot and nidda

Mimouna: the holiday of engagement

Piyyutim on Shabbat eve

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

Recipes for Rosh Hashana blessings

Songs and Piyyutim

Wedding

Zliten

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

Morocco

Agdz

Bereavement customs

Status of women and matchmaking

Aït Bouguemmaz

Asammer

Birth, bar and bat mitzva

Women's immersion

Asilah

Dating her husband and engagement

Death and Chevra Kadisha

Kashrut , Shabbat and Rabbi roles

Asslen

Birth and naming the child

Matchmaking, engagement and wedding

Azemmour

Jews of the Atlas mountains (Shluḥ)

Aїt Rbiʕ

Wedding, mikve, ḥenna and marriage life

Aїt Taguella

Rabbis and mohelim

Casablanca

Passover Seder plate, 'Bibhilu' ritual and holiday foods

Bar mitzva

Birth

Birth and brit mila

Brit mila, acquaintance between spouses and family life

Ceremony and songs for the single girl to find a husband

Differences between the Jewish communities in Morocco

Ḥevra Qadisha and bereavement customs

Jews of the Atlas mountains (Shluḥ)

Life in Morocco

Pregnancy, birth, brit and relationship with the Muslims

Shabbat, holidays and Mimouna

Wedding customs

Demnate

Birth, brit, my mother and the passing of my brother

Fes

Bereavement costumes

Pregnancy, birth, brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Proverbs, curses and blessings

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Israel

Ancient customs attesting to the Jewish origins from the time of the destruction of the Second Temple

Burial in caves, shrouds and bereavement customs

Kenitra

Bereavement customs

Synagogue and the purification of the dead

Marrakesh

Bar mitzva in Marrakesh

Bein Hametzarim (The Three Weeks)

Birth, brit mila and livelihood

Brit mila in Marrakesh

Building the Sukka, the prophet Elijah's chair and guest hospitality

Cooking raisins, 'Bibhilu' ritual, and the Messiah's pie

Counting of the Omer

Customs of Berber Jews

Differences between the Jewish communities in Morocco

Family meals and ḥenna

Ha-qafot (encirclement) at Simḥat Tora and studying Kabbalah in Hosha'ana Rabba

Hanukka: charity, grace and other good deeds

Judeo-Arabic translation of the Book of Esther, mishloach manot (sending of portions) to the bride and Purim gifts

Last meal before fasting on Yom Kippur and kapparot (atonement ritual)

Mimouna

Mimouna: flowers, mint and midrash (exegesis)

Pregnancy, birth, brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Purim and Purim money

Shavuot: feast and water pouring ceremony

The Jewish community, celebrations and Sukkot

The Month of Elul and performing good deeds

Mazagan (El Jadida)

Proverbs, curses and blessings

Meknes

Birth and brit mila

Birth, brit mila and name giving

Celebration for Rabbi ʿAmram ben Diwan

Ceremony and songs for the single girl to find a husband

Death and bereavement

Eve of Baqashot song

Foods, shechita and kashrut

Ḥevra Qadisha and bereavement customs

Hillula (celebration) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and visits to Morocco

Pregnancy, birth, brit and relationship with the Muslims

Wedding songs and customs

Melilla

Jewish life in Melilla

Mogador (Essaouira)

'Bibhilu' and Passover Seder

Birth celebrations, bar mitzva and studies of the boys

Burning incense (bakhoor) custom

Dating, matchmaking and wedding

Engagement and wedding customs

Grandfather and grandmother sewing galabiyas

Grandmother and the linen shrouds

Her father and his relationship with the community's Rabbis

Instruments from Mogador

Slaughter customs in Mogador (Essaouira)

Yom Kippur

Ouarzazate

Passover Seder plate, 'Bibhilu' ritual and holiday foods

Beliefs and care during childbirth

Mimouna customs

Purim and Fast of ʾEsther

Shabbat morning

The seven days before the wedding

The seven days of preparation for the wedding

Wedding and engagement

Ouled Mansour

Wedding and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Oumnass

Differences between the Jewish communities in Morocco

Rabat

Occupation and livelihood, wedding and brit mila

Safi

Brit mila

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Salé

Writing Tora book and bringing Rabbi Shaul Biton's remains to Israel

Sefrou

Name giving, Covenant of Isaac and brit mila

Settat

Customs against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Skoura

Mimouna customs

Tanger

Blessings in Moroccan

Making aliya and the birth of a son customs

Tangier

Jewish life in Melilla

Telouet

Brit mila, wedding, Passover and education

Timztot

Bar mitzva and bat mitzva

Brit mila and zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Matchmaking, engagement and wedding

Medicine, cosmetic products and folk remedies against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Songs and dances

Wedding and complementary ceremonies

Tirsal

Ancient customs attesting to the Jewish origins from the time of the destruction of the Second Temple

Burial in caves, shrouds and bereavement customs

Tiznit

Ancient customs attesting to the Jewish origins from the time of the destruction of the Second Temple

Burial in caves, shrouds and bereavement customs

Venezuela

Jewish life in Melilla

ǝl-Qǝlʕa dǝ-sraghna'

Birth: customs, traditions and ceremonies

ישראל

Immersion in the mikve, dowry, wedding customs and birth

תיסינת

Immersion in the mikve, dowry, wedding customs and birth

תירסאל

Immersion in the mikve, dowry, wedding customs and birth

Syria

Aleppo

Acquaintance of the couple

Bat mitzva and putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Business with the Muslims

Family's involvement in marital affairs

Importance of holidays and Shabbat in Aleppo

Kashrut and Shabbat

Piyyut when putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Pre-brit mila celebration

Visiting the family home during holidays and after wedding

Damascus

Between the Aleppo and Damascus communities

Burning Haman (Purim custom), Mishloach Manot (Purim food gifts) and dressing up

Entering cemeteries, bereavement and distributing special bread during memorials

Illustrating Exodus on Seder evening

Koshering meat and poultry

Synagogue in Jobar

The Tray of Elijah the Prophet and pidyon haben (redemption of the first-born son)

Tishrei holidays

Ḥalab

Community traditions

Father-son traditions

Israel

Bat mitzva and putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Piyyut when putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Nusaybin

Bat mitzva and putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Piyyut when putting tefillin (phylacteries)

Qamishli

Dating, wedding, brit mila and bar mitzva

Father-son traditions

Tunisia

Ariana

Bar mitzva, birth, dating and wedding

Beja

Customs: Se'udat Yitro (Feast of Jethro) and bsisa

Holidays and traditions during the months of Tevet and Adar

Djerba

Brit mila and Zohar

Bsisa during Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan (first month of the Hebrew year)

Customs of Hoshaʿana Rabba (the seventh day of Sukkot) at the Trabelsi family

Customs: bsisa, Se'udat Yitro (Feast of Jethro), Daughters' Holiday and Passover

Djerba's customs (lel ha'zohar, brit mila, bar and bat mitzva, Lag Ba'omer)

Hatarat Nedarim (Annulment of vows and oaths)

Keening and bereavement customs - shiva and first 12 months

Life in Djerba and connection to the land of Israel

Postpartum, the Zohar and brit mila

Pre-wedding (part I)

Pre-wedding (part II)

Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan (first month of the Hebrew year)

Se'udat Yitro (Feast of Jethro)

Selling mitzvot

Wedding customs against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

El Ḥamma

Bsisa during Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan (first month of the Hebrew year)

Gabes

Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan customs

After birth customs

Bereavement customs

Birth and bar mitzva

Bridal gifts preparations

Bsisa

Holiday traditions

Jewellery, mikve and ḥenna

Passover and bsisa night

Tishʿa BeʾAv customs

Wedding and bereavement costumes

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye and fish

La Goulette

Bsisa

Mahdia

Tishʿa BeʾAv and the Seventeenth of Tammuz

Birth, brit and bar mitzva

Ḥenna and seven blessings

Passover

Se'udat Yitro (Feast of Jethro)

Synagogue and rabbis

Matmata

Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan customs

After birth customs

Bereavement customs

Holiday traditions

Tishʿa BeʾAv customs

Moknine

Synagogues, Rabbis and righteous

Walking and returning from the mikve

Nabeul

Candles lighting custom

Difference between the perception of faith in Hakadosh Baruch Hu (Almighty) in Tunisia and Israel

Different features in towns and areas in Tunisia

Jewish holidays

Making bsisa and its meaning

Nefta

Ayin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Sousse

Tishʿa BeʾAv and the Seventeenth of Tammuz

Birth, brit and bar mitzva

Ḥenna and seven blessings

Passover

Se'udat Yitro (Feast of Jethro)

Synagogue and rabbis

Tozeur

Birth, brit and pidyon haben (redemption of the firstborn)

Tunis

Zohar and brit mila

Zarzis

Birth

Bsisa

Rabbis, oaths and celebration customs

Turkey

Adana

Holidays and teething ceremony

Ankara

Holidays and mikve

Argentina

Bereavement customs

Zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Aydın

Bereavement customs

Family and community customs

Buenos Aires

Bereavement customs

Family and community customs

Edirne

Author of the commentary 'Meʿam Loʿez' by Rabbi Yaʿakov Culi, reading the Tora's portion of the week and the relationship between the Jews and the authorities

Israel

Author of the commentary 'Meʿam Loʿez' by Rabbi Yaʿakov Culi, reading the Tora's portion of the week and the relationship between the Jews and the authorities

Family gatherings and going to the mikve

Laundry

Istanbul

Aliya, tradition and holidays

Bar mitzva and bat mitzva and relationship with non-Jews

Bereavement customs

Bereavement customs, other customs and folk beliefs

Birth and bar mitzva

Dating and wedding

Family gatherings and going to the mikve

Family, community and their attitude towards Judaism

Gifts for babies during pregnancy, celebrations of the birth of a son and daughter and naming

Holidays and mikve

Keeping kosher inside vs. outside and relationships with the Muslim neighbours

Laundry

Wedding and engagement

Zeved habat (naming the girl ceremony)

Izmir

Eid al-Adha (Muslim holiday) and the kosher shechita

Her marriage to a Moroccan Jew and the preservation of Sephardic culture

Unknown

Holidays and teething ceremony

Yemen

Al Bayda

Clothing and customs

Ḥenna

Shechita

Teaching boys and bar mitzva

Al-Arous

Levirate marriage (marriage to a brother’s widow)

Al-Ashur

Ḥenna ceremony and the wife's move to her husband's house

Al-Ḥabal

The mikve and song for the bride

Wedding at a young age

Al-Lajam

Mikve, escorting the bride to the ḥuppa, mohel and beliefs surrounding birth

Bani Hajaj

Dishes, foods and Shechita

Mikve and her mother, the mikve attendant

Baydha

Marrying young to prevent girls from marrying Muslims

Song origin and way of singing them

Bayt Baws

Bereavement customs

Birth, first and last names giving and brit mila

Dating, wedding and ḥenna

His father’s reaction when he saw him without sidelocks

Daga

Bereavement customs

Dhamar

Shechita

Gharir

Women's occupations and respect for the elderly

Ḥabban

Birth

Birth customs, death and clothing

Ḥabban legacy museum

Perfume and incense

Shechita training, nikkur and certification

Wedding and its customs

Yom Kippur and Tishʿa BeʾAv

Ḥaima

Birth and brit mila

Celebrations: customs and humility

Manners of payment amongst Jews

Songs of wedding and ḥenna

Wedding customs

Ḥajba

Engagement

Ḥawlan

Medicine, folk remedies and dealing with ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Ḥaydan as-Sham

Houses and way of life in Yemen

Israel

Houses and way of life in Yemen

Jahran

Mingide

Najran (Saudi Arabia)

Immersion in the well

Naʿab

The keeners and bereavement songs

Radaʿa

Shabbat foods and customs

Rusaba

Matchmaking, mikve and wedding

Sanaʽa

Bereavement customs

Mikve, escorting the bride to the ḥuppa, mohel and beliefs surrounding birth

Shechita training

The use of different plants

Sanaʿa

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Sayan

Bereavement customs

Women's mikve purification

Sharʿab

Sir

Family and the Yemenite way of living

Yemenite way of life

Tanˁam

Bereavement customs

Dating and engagement

Women's mikve purification

ʿAden

Bread and pastry in ʿAden

Making laḥuḥ

ʿAnaka

Bereavement customs

Birth, first and last names giving and brit mila

Dating, wedding and ḥenna

His father’s reaction when he saw him without sidelocks

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