92-Hour Visit Yields Good Will and Solidarity With Greek Jews 
 

 

   B'nai B'rith president Moishe Smith realized a brief and meaningful, first-ever journey to Athens and Volos, July 2-5, fulfilling a request made by Prof. Asher J. Matathias, a native of the once populous Jewish community of Greece, a newborn-survivor of the Holocaust, and long-serving president of Long Island Lodge #1353, B'B', in the Five Towns.

 

   During his stay in the capital Moishe was accompanied by BBI executive vice president Dan Mariaschin, and met with Matos Borbolis and members of the local B'B' Filon  Lodge; Moisis Konstantinis, president of the Central Board of Greek-Jewish Communities, and representatives of the Athens Jewish congregation, including Leon Gavrielidis. Further, a private tour of the Jewish Museum was conducted by its director Zanet Batinou.

 

   Fruitful, and substantive discussions were held with Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassemis during which the following subjects were broached effecting mutual interest and an atmosphere of common understanding: prospects for reviving deliberations for the peaceful resolution of the crisis in Gaza and the broader Middle East, including the evolving  inter-dialogue between Palestinian factions for a cease-fire; also, the unsettled horizon in the post- presidential election  in Iran, and the possible consequences on Tehran's ambitious nuclear program, and the projected aspirations of the new national leaderships in the U.S. and Israel. The visitors  presented issues of concern to Greek Jewry --- the municipal encroachment in sacred ground in the Thessaloniki cemetery, the awarding of reparations --- and acknowledged the continuing efforts of official Greece to recover the archives of the Jewish communities of Athens and Thessaloniki that were taken by the occupying powers in World War II and moved to Moscow. Finally, the Minister voiced the respect and admiration of the Greek Polity for the contributions, in every sphere, of Greek Jews!

 

   The stage was then set for Moishe alone to make the trip to Volos. Arriving just before Shabbat, Moishe was met and escorted by Asher and his wife Anna to the Volos Holocaust Memorial (a gift by the Jewish-Greek-American Victor Politis), entering the historic synagogue in time to be introduced to the Jewish community that enthusiastically turned out in numbers to welcome the distinguished guest. After a series of photographs, there was time for worship, conducted by spiritual leaders Menahem Moisis (current), the nonagenarian Maurice Franses (past, and Asher's father-in-law), and Asher. A special Haskava, memorial prayer, was chanted for Raphael Yaakov Smith, z"l, Mosihe's beloved father who departed this world several months ago.

 

   With Kiddush, sanctification of the wine, and HaMotsi, blessing over the bread, both ably recited by the teen Iosif Filosof (an honored mathematics student), the Oneg, a glorious festive Sabbath meal was underway. For such meticulous preparations, the menu and the event's general preparation, appreciation was voiced for Emelia Filosof and her committee, and Louiza Kones-Shinas.
 

 

   Community president Marcel Solomon was warm in his remarks and presented Moishe with gift, as did Digos Parente, on behalf of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki (second largest, after Athens; there are fewer than 5,000 in the country). In simultaneous Greek and English statements, Asher movingly referred to the genesis of the idea to bring Moishe to Greece: the precarious condition local Jews experience whenever the inevitable spasms of anti-Semitism breakout as result of explosive current events; the need to visibly and demonstrably be with the Jews of Greece , in the manner that  B'nai B'rith is the beacon for world Jewry, for their pain is acutely felt by their emigrant compatriots!

 

  Moishe could not have been more gracious and forthcoming in  his extended response. Weaving an encomium, he was effusive in his praise for Asher's record of service to B'nai B'rith and creative involvement in public affairs, making ample use of the computer to immediately connect and communicate effectively the concerns of Jews in his Lodge, or Israel, to his relatives , friends, and associates he left behind inVolos and Greece when his family moved to America in 1956. More, Moishe assured the community of his commitment to do everything that is possible to support and enhanced the viability of the congregation, even as its members took heart with the report of the  earlier aforementioned proceedings in Athens.