Berkeley church educates congregants about Israel

For some Bay Area Christians, there are few opportunities to delve into the Israel's culture, land and the peace process. But an event co-sponsored by Jewish Community Relations Council and the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley helped some local Presbyterians get a better understanding of their Abrahamic cousins.

Since April 23, there have been four different workshops offered to congregants at the Berkeley church. Presented chronologically, the series began with the Jewish view on land and covenant, followed by U.C. Davis professor Noel Kaplowitz, who spoke on the concept and history of Zionism.

Representatives from the Jewish Community Federation of the East Bay delivered a lecture entitled "Israel's Diverse Society: A Land of Multiculturalism," the following week, and the series wrapped up with a presentation by the Jewish Community Relations Council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The adult education series was intended for Christians to explore how contemporary Jews relate to Israel. The series also helped attendees come to grips with their own questions around Israel and Jews.

Joan Benton, who has been a member of the Presbyterian Church for the past 10 years, said that she wanted to attend all of the lectures but only made it to the last one.

"I get so confused whenever I think about Israel. Just when I think I understand their perspective, I hear a new opinion that changes my mind," she said.

Before the lecture, Benton, who was one of the first to arrive, said that she was brought up in a conservative Presbyterian household.

"At the more conservative churches, there seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction in the direction of pro-Israel," she said, though at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley reactions are across the board.

"But today, especially in Berkeley, it seems that there is more of a knee-jerk reaction in the other direction," she added.

As Benton understands it, some evangelical groups perceive the state of Israel as being the fulfillment of God's will to have the Jews return to the land. "But I am just trying to make sense of all the controversy in the region," she said.

Sandy Uridge, a member of the church since 1975, said that each series has attracted a full house, between 50 to 75 people, most of whom are Presbyterian. Though the lectures largely have not changed attendees' perspectives or stereotypes of Jews or Israel — "I don't know if I've ever had any stereotypes," she notes — she has learned a lot, she said.

For Betty Smith, however, the series has been essential in changing her viewpoint.

"My impression of Israel was similar to the 1960 film 'Exodus,'" Smith said. "I figured everyone that lived in Israel all fled from the Holocaust."

After the "Israel's Diverse Society" lecture, Smith said it opened her eyes to an Israel that was high-fashion, cutting-edge and much more liberal than she anticipated.

"From the Old Testament teachings you hear in sermons on the culture of Israel, it presents a very different picture than what Israel apparently is," she said.

Smith attended each of the lectures, and said that she got a lot out of the series.

"I have a much [better] understanding of the culture and politics," she said.

Presbyterian church members Harriet and Lloyd Petroelje went to two lectures. The first was presented by Rabbi Gordon Freeman of Congregation B'nai Shalom in Walnut Creek.

"I really appreciated the thoroughness of the presentation," Lloyd Petroelje said.

His wife, Harriet, said that the first talk stimulated her thinking about Zionism. But while the series has been helpful to some in breaking down barriers and promoting understanding, she is still developing her thoughts about Israel as a Jewish state.

"I was definitely always more in favor of the Arab view, and to a degree I still kind of feel like the Jews kicked them out," Petroelje said before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lecture. "I would like to see each one have an independent state."

Now that the lecture series is over, however, her mind is not yet made up.

"Now I'm waiting to hear the Arab view on it," she said.