Confession Versus Atonement

I have thinking about Max's confession about using the blog to confess. I don't think I use the blog that way and it may have to do with the different religious food groups involved. In Judaism, there is no tradition, ritual or sacrament of confession. There is of course Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, and the practice of asking forgiveness from those you may have wronged during the past year. I have always found this pretty congenial and cathartic but for a contrary view listen to Lewis Black's profanity laced rant about Yom Kippur on his Carnegie Hall recording. For the blog, I am not sure how to use it as a vehicle for atonement but come September 24th I will do my best to use the Hamptons marathon to atone for two pretty dreadful previous marathons.