❤ Our Greek Roots, Bridge-Building and the Park in Zur Moshe

My husband architect Elias Messinas and I love creating bridges between Greece and Israel: our two loves. We rarely miss an opportunity. Even though our proposals often seem out of place, they usually prove to simply be a bit ahead of their time.

Nowadays it is a no-brainer to promote relations between Greece and Israel – see military cooperation, natural gas and energy cooperation, scientific cooperation, Israelis investing in real estate in Greece, Greek companies looking for new markets in Israel, Greek and Israeli musicians and artists working together, and more. But, looking back 15 years ago things were very different.

In 2002 Elias came up with one such bridging project. It was around the time that Athens won the nomination to host the Olympic Games – another Greek invention since antiquity, which was revived again in 1896 by modern Athens. Athens hosting the Olympics in 2004 was an opportunity for celebration, cooperation and rapprochement. The project Elias proposed was simple: to create two parks, one in Athens and one in Israel marking the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004, thus promoting ideas of peace and cooperation among Greeks and Israelis.

The park in Athens, which was to be named the ‘Israel Park’, was presented to then Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyanni, but the municipality turned it down. True to the general spirit of the times, the municipality was afraid that the park would be vandalized shortly after it would be created. So, the project had to proceed only with its second half, namely, the creation of an ‘Athens 2004’ park in Israel.

The ‘Athens 2004’ park in Israel was indeed co-created in 2004, thanks to the support of individual Greeks and Israelis, Jews and Christians alike. Thanks to the enrollment of many organizations among them the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki headed by David Saltiel, Keren Hayesod (Athens and Jerusalem), Bene Berith (Athens), TraditionNews (Athens),KRISARA magazine and the Hellenic Society PAIDEIA (CT, USA).

Early in the process the question of location arose. Where to place the new park? The answer was fairly simple: Zur Moshe near Netanya. A moshav (an agricultural community) established by Greek Jews Moshe Kofinas, David Florentin, Moshe Carasso and Leon Recanati in 1937. The choice felt like a natural place to house it, and as the local community agreed to the idea. Funds were raised with a lot of good will and enthusiasm by all those involved. Thus, on Friday July 9, 2004 the new park ‘Athens 2004’ was inaugurated by HE Panagiotis Zografos, Ambassador of Greece to Israel at the time, and in the presence of Consul of Greece in Haifa Kostas Zinovios and his wife Marry, other dignitaries, and Greeks from the Zur Moshe and Tel Aviv area.

Since its creation the park has grown and new trees are added every year in commemoration and in honor of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust or just people who lived and/or still live among us and we wish to honor them. A marble plaque in the park commemorates the historic visit of Athens Mayor Yiorgos Kaminis in 2013. This year, on Friday January 25 on the occasion of TuBiShvat (The New Year for Trees), a new tree was added in the ‘Athens 2004’ park. It was planted in memory of the late Loukia Malach Saltiel, wife of David Saltiel, President of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and President of the Board of Jewish Communities of Greece. At the park Loukia will be remembered and honored by those who will visit the park.

Every tree planting ceremony at the park is a celebration and a reconnection. Reconnecting with the local Greek Jewish community, those who came to Israel to help build the young State in the early years: Eliezer Kabilis from Athens, Moshe Mizrahi from Kastoria, and  Markos (Mordohai) Cohen from Larissa, and Abraham Huli from Zur Moshe were joined by Yossi Mizrahi, Aaron (Guri) Gurfinkel, Avraham Katri, Nuriel Feyad and Itzhak Keren from Zur Moshe, who is responsible for the maintenance of the park.

The park ‘Athens 2004’ in Zur Moshe, is a landmark of Greek-Israeli cooperation, and an important destination for Greeks visiting Israel. The first generation of local Greek-Jews who still live in Zur Moshe are a walking legacy of Greek Jewish history. They have many stories to share, and pass on to the next generations, let alone a story of making the dream of the State of Israel a reality, taking pride in their love of the land, love of the people and love of community.

The celebration of the trees in Israel TuBiShvat is marked with planting trees for the next generations. The TuBiShvat ceremony at Zur Moshe was additionally symbolic, as it reminded us of our own roots, and strengthened us to grow tall branches. Sharing our Greek roots creates a sense of belonging and a sense of community, but also rekindles our willpower to strengthen Israel for the next generations, like the Greek founding fathers of Zur Moshe once did. With the trees we pass on our values and tradition to our children and grandchildren who in our mind’s eye will one day come to plant trees of their own in the park for their kids to enjoy.

From Jerusalem with love,

Yvette Nahmia-Messinas