Are there Jewish individuals that attend the celebration with you?
Most of the festival that we hold is a six day conference that is for Christians. There are a couple events that are geared towards a wider audience that are more acceptable to a Jewish person. One example of this is our Israeli guest night. This year we will have one of Israel’s greatest modern day composers join us. We will have several thousand Israeli guests join us for the Israeli guest night which will be held at the new Jerusalem Sports & Cultural Complex.
What has the increase in attendance been comparing 1980 to today?
In 1980 we had about 1,000 attendees from 40 countries, and it quickly grew into Israel’s largest tourist event with 4,000-5,000 a year with people from 80-100 nations. We peaked once or twice around 7,000-8,000. Sometimes if there is trouble in the region attendance drops to 3,000-4,000, this year we are expecting over 4,000.
Anything else to add?
Sukkot is a festival of joy. We do feel very welcomed by Israelis, especially when we go out on the street during the annual Jerusalem march sponsored by the Jerusalem municipality. We see children going out and welcoming us. I think this bodes very well for the future of Jewish Christian relations. It is important that a new generation of Israel is seeing a different testimony and witness of the Christian faith.
PROFILE: ICEJ
DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE
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Source:ICEJ