I’m a ‘good jew’. Because I go to shul. On Rosh Hashanna AND Yom Kippur. Both days. I make sacrifice for my religion. I don’t play tennis. I give up the ‘never shower and shave on saturday morning’ rule for the day. I don’t eat for fu- for heaven’s sake. For 25 hours. Holy moly. That’s serious. But the starvation is not a punishment. Then we’d be Catholics. They punish, they beat, flagellate, rip their own flesh and repent. Boy do they repent. But they have a lot to repent for, generally. And because we live in a predominantly Christian society we’re tapped into that form of culture in which you sin, you have to repent. With blood. Or suffering. Or for really serious stuff; just a few ‘hail marys will do’. – Read More –