instant purification

"Worshipping God is too easy, the art of repentance is too cheap. One Yom Kippur will cleanse the sins of an entire year that have become as red as scarlet; white clothing and cloth shoes will cause black stains and rudeness to disappear. The same people who created God in their image are the ones who invented the mechanisms for disinfection, and improved them to suit their own needs (...) When it's still morning we'll abuse a chicken a little - it's our repentance. It's always convenient to send someone else to hell in our place. The automatic washing machine is operating, and into it we'll insert small change for charity, which will avert a wrathful decree. That's the charity that replaces justice - 364 days of injustice are summed up in one day of generosity (...) All the mechanisms and mannerisms are directed at instant purification. Soon we'll eat the pre-fast meal that separates the ordinary weekday from the major fast. Although devout Muslims fast for an entire month, religious Jews get the general idea in one concentrated day of suffering (...) Is only the chicken to blame, and after we circle it around our head, will we be able to return to a good life, only in order to continue with our bad deeds?"

Yossi Sarid in einem Haaretz-Kommentar zu Yom Kippur (7. Oktober)