Back in April I highlighted an ally of the Jewish community who was paying a price for standing with us: Perry LeGreco from The Mediterranean Greek Tavern in Elsternwick, Melbourne.
Fast forward to now, and Perry and the gang have remained steadfast in their support. They even recently hosted a Shabbat dinner celebrating Jewish and Greek culture, as part of Shabbat Club Australia.
I wish I could leave this post on this heartwarming high, but I think you all can guess what happened next.
An Elsternwick restaurant has been targeted with online abuse, including a threat to blow up the premises, after it hosted a Shabbat dinner celebrating Jewish and Greek culture on Friday night.
The Mediterranean Greek Tavern opened its doors to Shabbat Club Australia, a pop-up dinner series for an event marking the club’s six-month anniversary.
Guests were asked to dress in white as though they were in a Greek village. Challah sat on the tables, prayers were said before the meal, and a bouzouki band played Jewish songs like Hava Nagila and music from Zorba the Greek.
“It was the most innocent of gatherings there to celebrate life,” restaurant owner Perry Le Greco told The AJN.
Most guests were Jewish, Le Greco said, but a number of Greeks attended as well.
“We share the same values, same food, and same traditions: family, love, and life and community,” he said. “It was amazing how both cultures were exactly the same.”
Le Greco posted about the night on social media the following day, praising the behaviour of the young people who attended. The response was initially warm.
“All of a sudden some comments were filtering in. Then the comments have just spread, spread, spread, spread,” he said.
Some commenters called the hosts sellouts and asked why he would support “genocide killers”. One called for the restaurant to be bombed.
One even called for Jews to be deported from Australia.
“They’ve actually put on a public place [a threat] to blow up the tavern because we held an event,” Le Greco said. “It’s just insane.”
After taking legal advice, Le Greco has made the about 23 posts public, including the names of those who wrote them. He said the commenters had made no effort to conceal their identities.
“They’re openly showing their profile, their photos. They’ve got no problem with it,” he said.
“We’re hoping some of their work colleagues, their family, friends, sees their posts and calls them out,” he said.
I will post some of the worst comments received, not only so you have a better idea of the hate the restaurant and Jewish community have faced, but so you see the names of those perpetuating it, and can hopefully help ensure their businesses or jobs are jeopardized.
Unfortunately, most of these cowards either locked their profiles or are probably using fake names, so I was able to fully identify only a couple of them:
Meanwhile, in case it wasn’t already clear just what a mensch Perry LeGreco is:
An Elsternwick restaurant is calling on hospitality businesses across Melbourne to provide meals for people facing hardship this winter, after its own community initiative saw dozens of families seek help within its first week.
Mediterranean Greek Tavern manager Perry Le Greco said the restaurant launched its free meal program last week with the aim of supporting people struggling with the rising cost of living, but the response showed how many Victorians were quietly experiencing financial difficulty.
The family-owned restaurant has already provided meals to 36 families and had to cap the number of requests in its first week while preparing for increased demand.
Le Greco expects the initiative could support between 300 and 400 families over the five-week winter period, with around 100 this week.
“We’re trying to get other restaurants and businesses involved in their areas,” Le Greco told Neos Kosmos.
“If we’re a small restaurant that can do it, I’m sure there are others that just don’t know how to do it.”
The initiative is in its third year, with the restaurant providing meals to about 160 families in its first year and 178 families last year.
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The restaurant is funding the program itself and is not seeking donations. Instead, Le Greco is asking other cafés, restaurants, bakeries and hospitality businesses to consider offering even a small number of meals to people in need.
“It doesn’t have to be a lot. It could be two families a day. It’s better than nothing,” he said.
The meals are provided confidentially, with no paperwork required and no questions asked.
“We don’t ask for healthcare cards. We don’t make it hard,” Le Greco said.
“To ask for help is embarrassing for a lot of people in itself. Let’s just make it easy and say, ‘Here’s a helping hand.’”
So if you’re in Melbourne, please consider returning the favor: support The Mediterranean Greek Tavern and let Perry and his family know that decency has more friends than hate does.
Because allies and good people like Perry shouldn’t just be thanked.
They should be backed.
