Day 7 and final thoughts

Hey all,
We made it home safely as my other entry from my iPhone pointed out (it was so great to actually have service and to use my iphone again - I was going through withdrawl!!!). I thought i would re-cap our final day's activities and then have some closing thoughts:

Wednesday the weather was better than the previous rainy day but was still very cold. We all bundled up and headed to our first site, which was the "Garden Tomb". This is the location where they think Jesus was buried. The garden was a very short distance from our Hotel, but once we went inside it really felt like another location all-together. It was very peaceful and was a really beautiful spot with little pathways through the flowers and trees. We were greeted by a very vibrant and cheerful British fellow who told us that they really aren't sure if this was Jesus' tomb or not and to be careful of a common trap to worship the site rather than God Himself. As the man also said, it quite honestly doesn't matter where Jesus was buried since He was only there for 2 days anyway! And the real important fact is that He rose again. Amen to that! :)

Before entering the tomb itself, we congregated in a little sitting area around the garden and took communion together as group. It was a special time and a really great beginning to the day, and ending to our trip.

After the tomb, we headed to the House of Ciaphas, which is also known as the "St. Peter Gallicantu Church". This is where Jesus' trials started, and also where Peter denied Jesus three times. The top of the church has a rooster on it, which represents the well-known story that the rooster crowed three times when Peter denied Jesus. If i recall correctly, we did a bunch of walking down some stairs and read some scripture but I don't think I was able to write anything in my journal about it!

We had lunch at Ramat Rachael, which is where Rachel was burried. There is also a hill overlooking Bethlehem where "O Little Town of Bethlehem" was written by Phillip Brooks in 1867.

Our final two stops where in the city of En Kerem & one of the possible roads to the city of Emmaus. We visited the church called "St. John Baharim" in En Kerem which is where Jon the Baptist was born. En Kerem was a nice little town and the church was peaceful. Some of us also walked across the street and wound back behind some houses and up more streets to one of the possible roads that lead to the town of Emmaus. There are 3 or 4 possible spots of Emmaus, and nobody really knows where the town is anymore. One of the spots is a war memorial, another spot is in the disputed territory (not safe), so this third spot was the only one we could visit. The location itself was practically in somebodies backyard behind a gate and had the grass worn out where car tires had rode - but it was special. We had a reading about the story where the travellers eyes were opened after the breaking of bread while they were walking to Emmaus. It was very special for those of us who attended the awesome retreat called "The Walk to Emmaus". (Blatant plug: check out http://www.upperroom.org/emmaus/whatis/ for more info on Emmaus!!! Let me know if you're interested in attending!!)

We then headed back to our hotel, had dinner and then headed to the airport for our long trip home. The airport security was SLOW and we were a little stressed about making it on time, and unfortunately one of our friends had complications in her ticketing and didn't make it (got some emails that she was scheduled to come back today - so hopefully all is well). We made it to the gate as they were boarding and were able to make it ok. The flight itself went pretty fast for Amy and I since we were pretty exhausted and slept most of the time. We made it back in town just about when I wrote the previous entry at about 5:45am. Finally got home in Marietta (drove through lotsa rain and traffic) at about 9:45am, took a nap until lunchtime - and relaxed the rest of the day.


What a great trip. As I wrote in my journal this morning, I can't even really begin to summarize the trip at all other than "wow!" For me, it really awoke the thirst to study more of the history and the behind-the-scenes stuff to the Bible and Jesus' time to better fill in the pieces to the stories I already know. Already I've been really hungry to re-read scripture and when I find a place mentioned I want to stop and research where it was, who built it, and what the story behind it is. And when I read scripture that mentions places we actually visited, I can picture it in my mind as I read and it really brings the story more to life in a way that I never imagined. It just adds another dimension to it all.

Poor Amy is sick now with the annoying sinus junk that most of us got one day or another during the trip - but at least she has it now that we're safely at home where she can rest. I'm still sniffly but getting much better. I went to bed at 8pm last night and woke up about 5am and have been at a nice pace today with good energy.

I hope to post a link to all of our pictures when I can get them uploaded and hopefully create a spot where the other members of the trip can upload their photo's too, so stay tuned for that. Further, i'd like to keep contributing to this Blog every now and then with some scripture or thoughts about some aspect of Israel that is revealed. For as we learned in our devotional on the 1st or 2nd day of the trip - what's really important is what we do with this trip now that we're home rather than during it. The thought of how this pilgrimage will shape who we will become now that we've experienced Israel is one that we need to remember and hold on to. It wasn't just a vacation!!!

We met some great new friends, visited some amazing sites, ate some strange food, heard different languages, bought a bunch of stuff, sung songs, read scripture, and experienced God in new ways. It was a trip that I will never forget and already look forward to when I can go back and learn even more about how awesome God is and create even more memories of Galillee.

Thanks for reading!

Home!!!!!

Just landed!!!! Whew!! Not a bad flight at all - was able to sleep!
More tomorrow!

Day 6

Today was probably the most difficult day physically for us (and a little bit emotionally too – you’ll see). Last night when we got home it started to rain. We were thankful that it waited until we got home to start raining, but we thought it would be done by morning – nope. It was still pouring this morning. Well, the show must go on! Some people opted to stay inside and do a “plan B” museum tour while the majority of us continued as planned to tour outside. It was pretty tough! The rains from last night brought in some cold weather – so it must have been in the 40s most of the day. But it was also very windy which made it very very cold. And add downpours of rain and you have a pretty nasty day to be touring!! We were all bundled up with jackets and hats and poncho’s/raincoats and walked around in the city (which was already soaked and had puddles everywhere since it had been raining all night!!).

We started at the Pool of Bethesda, which means “House of Mercy” and is where Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. Quite honestly, it was cold and rainy and I was still trying to figure out the logistics of my poncho while trying to write in my journal while walking and watching out for puddles that I missed most of the commentary on this one!!!

We then spent the rest of the morning walking the Via Della Rosa, or “Walk of Sorrow’s”, which is the path that Jesus walked through Jerusalem when He was carrying the cross. The Catholic church has what are called “Stations of the Cross” and each station represents an event during Jesus’ walk through town as He carry’s the cross to His own crucifixion (when Jesus falls down, when his mother Mary see’s Him, when He falls down a 2nd time, etc). Amy has taken me to a Stations of the Cross ceremony at her previous church and it is very powerful and moving – and how much more moving to actually walk the path where this occurred and to reflect in the various churches/spots the fourteen stations. The pouring rain coming down on us, and the brutally cold & windy weather was symbolic to what Christ had to endure (although, of course, His was different and much more painful I’m sure).

We stumbled as we walked through the small narrow corridors of Jerusalem with people everywhere in the pouring rain. Tired, cold, becoming more and more weary just like Jesus must have. Each Station had a church at the spot (some were small stone buildings that could fit no more than 20-50 people) so we would enter the tiny church, sit down where we could, and read the verse(s) that corresponded with that station. Other stations were simply roman numerals on the wall of the public corridors that we traversed. We would huddle up in the corner of the busy street in the pouring rain underneath the station sign, trying to get out of people & car’s way (yes, some corridors were just about big enough for a single car to fit through as they tried to weave around people, honking their horns, people yelling “look out!”, etc)

Around the 6th station I started to really lose it. We were traversing uphill through a really busy corridor, with a width of maybe two or three people shoulder-to-shoulder (although we were walking single-file), pouring rain, freezing cold, tired and weary. This part of our journey was in a marketplace so, similar to our visit on Day #4, there were peddlers and shop-keepers everywhere trying to sell us their trinkets and force their tourist-items upon us. Imagine in your mind the chaos that already existed with the rain, the cold, the ponchos, the other tourists, and locals speaking all sorts of different languages. Now add the peddlers shouting out prices, feeling the glares of the Arabs who don’t even really care what we believe and really don’t like us anyway, they just want our money. Finally, and this is what broke me, it becomes time for Muslim prayer. As I said before, the Mosque’s have their loud-speakers which blare their chants all over the streets at very loud volumes - bleeding into every corridor of the city. All of a sudden on top of all the existing tension and weariness comes a blatant, disrespectful, spiteful noise which attempts to even further tune-out any glimpse of God from this place. I closed my eyes and started to weep silently as we walked through the city. Where was the reverence for all that Jesus endured? Where was the peace? What happened to this city? Indifferent, secular Arabs were consuming the entire place.

Sorry for the drama, that’s just where I was for a little bit of the day today. Some of it was just pure physical weariness from all the touring and being in a strange land, but the rest of it I believe was real. I was weeping, as Jesus did, for the city. It took me a long while to quietly collect myself as we continued to walk, but I really feel that we need to pray for believers everywhere and that God would protect His Holy city. It really moved me to want to learn everything I can about what is going on over here and to do what I can to pray for it. Thankfully, we serve a God who will take care of everything in His time and for His glory. Those who believe in Him are promised that He will protect us!

The rest of the afternoon was spent with some free time for shopping (Amy and I didn’t do much of that, although I did find a Phish shirt in Hebrew that I had to get ). We then headed to the main courtyard of the holy temple and walked along the upper wall, where the bow-and-arrow people would sit as well as the look-out people. We then walked on the original city street which is where all the main characters of the Bible walked – this street is right along the Western Wall of the temple (but slightly before the ‘Wailing Wall’ section – whew! I need to look at a diagram of the grounds). We finally headed back to the bus and by that time it was about 5pm and time to head back to the hotel.

After dinner there was a lecture in one of the conf. rooms where a representative from the Israeli’s and one from the Palestinians spoke. They outlined the details of the conflict dating back to 1967 when the 6-day war took place (and when Israel became an official state) and it was very interesting. I won’t go into all those details now, but it was very informative and just further emphasized to me how much I need to start praying for this country and for peace.
Tomorrow is our last day!!! It feels like quite a long time that we’ve been here – but on the other hand it feels like we haven’t even scratched the surface of all that is to be studied here. It has really made me want to buy some books and really dig into how all the pieces fit together geographically and historically – because that really helps with the belief side of things. Knowing how the actual locations and structures and cities fit together with the stories we know makes it so much more real.

Anyway – since we have to pack our bags and head right to the airport after dinner tomorrow, I probably won’t be able to blog about our last day until we return home on Thursday morning. I will probably send a little entry from my iPhone when we get back on the ground just for the heck of it, but will probably write my final thoughts on the trip sometime on Thursday or Friday after I semi-recover from the jet-lag.

Thanks to all who have been keeping up with this! It’s been a truly astounding trip and I’m already ready to come back here and dig-in some more in a few years. I strongly recommend visiting Israel to anyone out there wanting to learn more about the Holy Land and where Jesus’ and all the greats of the Bible have walked. Talk to you when we get home!

Only pic for the day - i made some friends while in the Jewish marketplace this afternoon :)

Day 5

Day 5 was a short day visit wise, since we only stopped at three places – but we spent more time at these places. Our new hotel room is DRY so we woke up with dry skin and being almost dehydrated. Also, I have developed a minor cold (I guess – might be allergies?) that is all in my sinuses…last night both of my nostrils were clogged all night and I could only breathe out of my mouth. Add the dry room to the mix and I was quite chalky this morning – YUMMY. :) My sinus issues continued throughout the day and only one nostril was open at a time….i’m taking some Advil Cold & Sinus which seems to help a little bit, but we can’t seem to find any nasal spray anywhere. Oh well!

Our first stop was at a place called Masada (which means “fortress”). This is another huge palace built by King Herod but this time it’s on the top of a mountain. It’s truly amazing what this man was able to accomplish so long ago. When we visited Caesarea on Day 2 (also built by Herod) they told us that Herod was a master architect and liked to be known as “able to conquer even nature itself”. Caesarea was built on a beach in the most unlikely spot for a port of call, and Masada was built all the way up on top of a huge mountain – again defying nature and what people thought could be done. As many leaders back in the day, their goal was to build the biggest, the best, and the most impressive structures and Herod seemed to take the prize (at least from what little I know of history so far!!!) The feat alone of collecting rain/mountain water and storing it in a cistern up way on top of a mountain in the desert is amazing enough.



We took a cable car ride to the top of the mountain, saw a video about the site, and walked for quite a long time through the many rooms, courtyards, bathhouses, sauna’s. (Yes, another amazing feat – a sauna with a raised floor so the boiling water could collect underneath and emanate the steam up the sides of the walls and into the room – on top of a mountain in the desert!!!).
We also learned more about the site after Herod’s reign: after Herod was already dead and gone, in 66 A.D. Jews from Jerusalem fled to Masada when the temple was under attack. They stayed in Masada and were able to use all the facilities & left-behind food/tools/etc to live here. They became quite the talk of the town because they were able to protect themselves from Roman rule in this fortress. The Romans obviously were not pleased about this, so eventually they attempted to attack the palace. They used a battering ram and all sorts of catapults and the type of stuff you see in the movies. The Jews’ defeat was inevitable and they had to decide what to do – do they surrender and become slaves to Rome, or do they kill themselves and never give up (FYI – committing suicide is strictly forbidden in Jewish law). They opted to kill one another and cast lots as to who would go first…men had to kill their wives and children and then fall on the sword themselves (Can you imagine?!). By the time the Roman’s entered the gates to take the fortress, they were all dead and their armor was piled up in the middle of the courtyard. During excavations they even found what they believe were little pieces of stone that were thought to be the lots themselves. It was a controversial and sad act. The Romans then left Masada empty until some Monks inhabited the place a few years later. They were then driven out during an earthquake (I think), and then the place sat for 1900 years untouched and undiscovered. It wasn’t until 1904 that the location was discovered and then excavated in the 1960’s. Not really a super religious or holy place, but a real wonder of history.




Our next stop was Qumran, which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950’s. There were beautiful desert mountains in this area and the remnants of a isolated group of people who wrote the scrolls. Not too much is known about them, and I need to look up my information, but it was quite a cool site with some more ruins.





After Qumran, we headed to the Dead Sea where we swam! Or, rather – floated! As you may know, since the Dead Sea is very salty, all objects float in it (also nothing can survive in it). It’s very murky, muddy, and deadly. Our guide said not to put your head under the water, and be very careful not to get the water in your eyes or mouth. It’s fairly easy to do that – and you actually do float on the surface with little effort…it’s wild!! Also the mud at the bottom of the sea is supposedly very good for the skin because of it’s oils and salt, so there all the people were literally rubbing all the mud all over their bodies for a mud-treatment right out there!! It was a blast – but quite tricky to finally wash out all the mud/sand from the shower. :)


Our final stop was the “Old Jericho Road”. We stopped on a look-out point of sorts where you can get a birds-eye view of the path that leads all the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. This was the path that Jesus and many others took during their traveling to & from this city.
In this location was a Bedouin tribe – who are Arab’s that choose to live in the desert by themselves. They set up little camps which are pretty much made out of any stuff they can find around and are nomad’s of sorts. Very strange and totally a foreign way of living for me. In one sense, it’s kind of freeing to not have to live in a big city and be able to make up your own rules and not have to worry about your cable bill and going to work, etc – but on the other hand how do you eat, etc? Our guide says that they sell goats for about $250 a piece which gets them pretty good money, but also a primary source is on tourists. Immediately as they see a bus coming to this look-out point, they all scramble to meet us at the bus and offer us necklaces and scarf’s and camel rides, etc. It was kind of sad and really distracted from what we were there to do (to view the old Jericho road where Jesus travelled). So while we’re viewing the road, there are these little kids who are 6 or 7 years old being taught to peddle and almost beg us to buy their trinkets (one was maybe 3 years old). And that’s all they know. Living out in the middle of nowhere in the desert, all they know is some other people with white-skin come on a bus every few hours and consume all their stuff and give them money. It was very strange.

So, as I said with the tour of Masada, day #5 wasn’t exactly super religious in nature, but the sites that we toured certainly had an impact on the Biblical stories that we know and how they were woven together.

Comments

Hey guys - i finally was able to check my email and see what y'all are having trouble posting comments. Sorry about that!! They should be all fixed now - although i still have to approve them before they will show up on the blog. :) Talk to you soon!!!

Day 4

This morning came a bit too early since we got home late last night – but we were on our way at the usual 7:30am. Just in case I haven't documented our morning schedule – our wakeup call is at 6am, breakfast is served starting at 6:30am, and then we must be on the bus and ready to go by 7:30am. Whew! We usually tour non-stop until about 5:30pm, dinner is at 6:30pm and then we're on our own. Day #1 and #2 we had an 8pm re-cap/devotional meeting but not last night or tonight. However, in our new hotel there are 30-minute lectures on various religious topics (So far we haven't attended any, but may go to the last one which is on the Israel & Palestinian conflict).

Our first stop today was at the Garden of Gethsemane, which is where Jesus went to pray and sweat drops of blood ("Take this cup from me…but not my will, but Thine be done"). On most of these special spots are churches instead of actual open gardens. In the courtyard area of this church (known as the "Church of All Nations") were several 2000 year old trees and the location that is known as the Garden of Gethsemane. We went into the church and there was a mass being held in German. It felt very reverent and peaceful – however, I got VERY frustrated when people kept taking pictures. I am all about capturing pictures, but for some reason it just felt like we needed to sit and enjoy the moment instead of taking pictures. It was pretty dark in the sanctuary and each flash and click and beep from the camera was very distracting to me (and to the worshippers) and got me a little upset and embarrassed for being a tourist.

Later we went to another church, the "Sanctuary of Bethpage" which is where Jesus rode into town on the donkey (Palm Sunday). It was a small little church and we read aloud the story from the Bible, and walked down a long and fairly steep path where Jesus would've traversed on the donkey.

The events later in the day are a bit jumbled since on one spot I forgot to bring my journal with me – one site was a church called Davanius Flavit, which was a church built on the site where Jesus wept for the city of Jerusalem. It was a somber site, and the roof of the church is shaped like an upside down tear and also has vases on it to catch the tears.

We then went into the Zion Gate, the Tomb of King David, and the Church of the Sepulcher. The Church of the Sepulcher is on the site where they believe Jesus was crucified. The church is on top of the rock where the cross stood and there is a spot where you can reach through and touch the actual rock. It is also a dark and holy place where you must whisper – but tons of people everywhere. In the same church is the actual rock where His body was laid when they removed him from the cross. Many many people kneeling down and lying face down on this rock. Nearby still is a shrine built to Jesus' tomb (since the original tomb was destroyed). It had candles all around it, and many many people inside and out praying and taking pictures. Incense smell fills the air.

Our final two spots were the Jewish & Arab Marketplaces which were long and very narrow streets inside the Zion gate where everything under the sun is sold – clothes, beads, breads, spices, raw meat, strange stuff (animal brains, intestines, etc), CDs/DVDs, parakeets, etc. It smelled quite bad and was very crowded and chaotic. Some parts were touristy but others were a genuine marketplace where people were haggling and buying their daily goods. Unreal!!

Our final stop today was the Western Wall (or "Wailing Wall"). Unfortunately, we weren't told in advance that today was the day we were going there, so I wasn't able to bring any prayers in advance (also since I didn't check my email last night since we were on the town). But when we found out we were going there, Amy and I wrote down about 7-10 prayers for our church, our friends, families, etc on different sheets of paper to put on the wall. The wall itself had a somewhat feeling of "huh?" to me, since from what I read it's more of a meaningful site for the Jews rather than Christians. This is the only remaining wall from the Temple that Solomon built and Jews are all over the place praying and touching the wall. I will honestly have to study up on the significance of this wall, but nevertheless I prayed for you guys and placed the prayers into the crevices in the wall.

A LOT of waking and standing today and everybody is sore and a bit tired. I got quite a bit sunburn today too – even though the temperature is in the low 60s, the sun really beats down and sneaks up on you. I am going to try to find some aloe!

Another interesting observation that I learned from our guide is that almost everywhere there is a Christian or Jewish church there is a Mosque across the street. Three times a day the Mosque has audio speakers outside its buildings that blare their songs and prayers anywhere within earshot. In fact, when I began writing today's journal I could hear the evening prayer being pumped through some speakers outside of our hotel. Devout Muslims are supposedly supposed to stop whatever they are doing and pray during this time. (Ironically when this prayer was occurring while we were walking around, nobody knelt down to pray – so apparently there weren't many religious Arab's around) I don't know how to nicely say it, but the whole thing is offensive to me. I'm ok with other churches having their own beliefs, but the audio speakers forcing it upon everyone and blatantly blaring their chants while we are trying to study and discover more about our own beliefs is very difficult indeed. It's a really different world over here.

That is about it for tonight! The weather is supposed to be lousy tomorrow, so our guide re-arranged some of our events. Tomorrow we are going back near Jericho and going to Masada and in order to beat the rush he wants us on the bus and ready to go by 6:45am (EEK!!!!). So needless to say we'll be going to bed early tonight! It's just about time for dinner, so I will sign off and talk to you tomorrow.

P.S. Rode a CAMEL today with mom :)

Day 3

Greetings! I did not get to post my entry for day 3 last night since a few of us went out on the town – so I now write this on Sunday morning with hopes to post it tonight along with a re-cap of today when we're done. I want to record Day 3 before we start our Day 4 today, however, so I can try to keep them fresh – we see so much in one day it's very easy to get it mushed together. J

Day 3 we left Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee and began our bus ride to Jerusalem. On the way, we stopped at Bet She'an, which was a very large Roman city that was founded by Alexander the Great and destroyed in 749 AD by a massive earthquake. The feeling was similar to Caesarea in that there were lots of huge white columns and ruins all over the place. Its one thing, however, to see pictures of these places and be like "Yeah yeah, I've seen ruins before" but it's entirely another to actually walk through them (in my opinion). Having never been to Rome or Greece to see any of these ruins before, it's spectacular and really puts it into perspective as to how massive and majestic these cities were!

We then got on a fairly long bus ride to Jericho – which is where the famous battle occurred when the walls came tumbling down after all they did was trust God and walk around the fortress! Jericho is occupied by Palestine, so it's all Arab and was a little tense. We had to go through some check points before entering, and our guide wasn't allowed to enter since he's a citizen of Israel (he knew this in advance and made plans for us to have another guide). We ate lunch at "Temptation Mountain" (where Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40-days) and didn't really see many sites or ruins – although there is a cable car here and a few people had time to go on camel rides! Jericho is also the lowest city on earth at 1000 ft. below sea level.

After Jericho we had a long bus ride into Jerusalem. It was quite amazing and impactful as we entered the city. Our guide played some majestic music and really set the tone beautifully as we rounded the corner and saw the hills and hills of houses and people. There are 750,000 people living in this city, Herod's palace is here, etc.

Within Jerusalem we went to the top of a mountain and were able to get a really amazing view of the entire city. We then visited the town of Bethlehem (which really isn't as a small town as the Christmas song says). It's about 40% Christian and 60% Muslim. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which is the oldest church in the world!!! (1500 years old). This is the place where Jesus was born. It was majestic, amazing, holy, and peaceful. This actual church is split between 3 different denominations – Armenian, Greek Orthodox, and Catholic. We walked through the different sections, and were able to touch the "star" that marked the spot where Jesus was actually born. Truly awesome!

Our new hotel is in downtown Jerusalem and is a bit nicer than the previous one. I wasn't really able to capture the décor of the old one – but it wasn't that nice after we stayed in a few nights J. This one is more up to par with a standard hotel and has better food, so it's nice that we'll be staying here for the rest of the trip.

Last night after dinner 4 or 5 of us decided to go "downtown" to see the local people. Saturday night the Sabbath ends and it is when all the Jewish kids go out on the town. We took a cab ride to a local spot called Ben Yehuda which is the supposed hotspot for everyone. We got there at 8pm and there wasn't too much going on yet, but by 9 or 9:30pm it was pretty packed with all sorts of people. The scene is a pretty long & wide street with shops on either side and occasional chairs and pavilions in the middle. The kids walk up and down the street, stop into food shops to get something to eat, congregate in the middle and talk and laugh, etc. As usual, there was a mix of certain Orthodox Jews (dressed in the black suits with black hats and beards) and also "regular" non-practicing Jews who dress like you and me. The energy level was pretty high and it is the equivalent of the mall or a local hang-out on a Friday or Saturday night. There was also a local Korean choir singing on the street singing religious songs (I recognized the tune of 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High" being sung in Korean), as well as a saxophone player further down, some other acoustic guitarists (non-religious music) – so it was a festival/party/social gathering type atmosphere and was pretty fun. We found some hot chocolate, looked at some of the local stuff being sold, and soaked it in. Things got a little tense at the end of the evening when our cab drivers got upset because the ones that brought us to the spot came back to pick us up and we were looking to get a better deal from somebody else. As we walked up the street, they followed us and then started to argue with us and the other cab drivers. Being late at night in a foreign country not speaking the language (and the cab drivers were muslim), it got a little spooky. Things calmed down when we decided to stick with the original cab drivers and got home as fast as we could J