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Jewish Community News
News: February 2007
Los Gatos Presbyterian Reverend Returns from Israel with “new perspective”
Reverend Mark Burnham, spiritual leader of the Presbyterian Church of
Los Gatos, recently returned from a UJC- sponsored trip to Israel. In
the face of a “pretty strong pro-Palestinian lobby” within
the Presbyterian Church, Burnham said he returned from Israel with a new
perspective.
“One of things I noticed was the physical size of Israel, how small
it is. When you have things going on, it affects everyone,” Burnham
said. “It gave me an understanding, from the Israeli perspective,
of security. They [the Israelis] can’t just say, ‘we’ll
give you back the West Bank, because it’s right there.”
The 10-day trip, also attended by JCRC of Silicon Valley Executive Director
Diane Fisher, was part of an outreach effort by UJC to develop relationships
with leaders of other faiths. The Jewish community has had a special interest
in reaching out to the Presbyterian community since a 1995 decision by
the national governing board of the Presbyterian Church to disinvest in
companies that do business with Israel.
Burnham acknowledged that upon his return, he sat down with a small, but
vocal minority of his church who were upset about his trip to Israel.
This group, who believe the occupation of the West Bank is “illegal
and immoral,” argued that the trip was a lobbying effort by the
Israelis. Burnham said he listened to his congregants and explained that
he saw the trip as an opportunity to learn more.
“There’s not a simple, easy solution [to the Israeli, Palestinian
conflict],” Burnham said. “I think going forward it helps
me to understand that what goes on in Israel affects many [Jewish people]
personally. They have family members living there.”
On a personal level, Burnham was struck by Jerusalem’s history and
beauty, and by the shared history between Judaism and Christianity.
“This summer my family took a family trip to Boston and did some
historic stuff. It was neat to see landmarks going back 300 years. But
in Jerusalem, you’re going back 3,000-4,000 years,” Burnham
said.
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