And it was conceivable that a being powerful enough to do such work could be aware of my actions at all times, and yet continue to me invisible.
The question remained, what did He think of my conduct?
Was He really angry when I broke the Sabbath, or pleased when I fasted on the Day of Atonement?
My belief as to these matters wavered.

When I swung the sacrifice around my head on Atonement Eve, repeating, "Be thou my sacrifice," etc., I certainly believed that I was bargaining with the Almighty for pardon, and that He was interested in the matter.

But next day, when the fast was over, and I enjoyed all of my chicken that I could eat, I believed as certainly that God could not be party to such a foolish transaction, in which He got nothing but words, while I got both the feast and the pardon.

The sacrifice of money, to be spent for the poor, seemed to me a more reliable insurance against damnation.

The well-to-do pious offered up both living sacrifice and money for the poor-box, but it was a sign of poverty to offer only money.