EIN GEDI, Israel - The walls of Jericho came crashing down again at this spa resort on the Dead Sea, with all the bright lights and fanfare of a Broadway show.
Actors dressed in biblical garb blasting ram horns and riding camels re-enacted Joshua's siege of the ancient city for some 5,000 Christian pilgrims on Thursday, kicking off a weeklong demonstration of solidarity with the Jewish state.
The performance at Ein Gedi, about 20 miles south of Jericho itself, was part of a celebration marking the Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot, a seven-day Jewish holiday during which the pilgrims believe the Old Testament invites all nations to come to Jerusalem.
The crowd's excitement was palpable, with believers exclaiming hallelujah and blowing large ram horns, or shofars, throughout the show. Walls replicating the ones that came tumbling down when Joshua blew his ram's horn came down during the performance.
Organizers said that Christian tourism in the Holy Land reaches its peak during Sukkot.
Evangelical groups have forged a tight alliance with the Jewish state, and Israeli officials have welcomed the pilgrims for years. Israeli Orthodox rabbis have tolerated them but have become increasingly concerned they may have an ulterior motive: conversion of the Jews.
The Christian groups oppose territorial concessions to the Palestinians, who want to establish a state in areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Many Evangelicals believe Jews must return to the biblical Land of Israel to facilitate a Second Coming of Christ.
The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has hosted Sukkot celebrations in Israel for 27 years. The embassy says that pilgrims have been instructed to refrain from missionary activity while in Israel.
"It's time for gentiles to repay their debt to the Jews," said Anthony Gibson of County Kildare, Ireland. Without the Jews, he said, there would be "no patriarchs, no prophets, no messiah, no salvation."
The weeklong festival will include a parade and a musical tribute to the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, in addition to performances by Jewish cantor and Broadway actor Dudu Fisher.
Lollie De Manielle of Malmesbury, South Africa, said that her interest in Israel is not seeing the "dead stones" of archaeological sites.
"I'm more looking forward to meeting the living stones, the (Israeli) people."
