I’m not the most devout Jew. Obviously, if I were, I’d be sitting in temple right now listening to the rabbi blow a shofar until I was half-deaf. But instead, I’m here reflecting on what I’ll need to ask forgiveness for. I figure, at least attempting to self-reflect, whether I do it in a house of worship or not, is enough to keep me cool with God. Or at least to keep me cool with myself, which I personally find more important.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, is a supposed to be a day of judgement, where you stand before God and yourself and allow an honest assessment of how you’ve behaved in the previous year to take place. From now until Yom Kippur (which falls about 10 days after Rosh Hashanah), all Jews are meant to engage in a process of repentance for the sins of the previous year. That’s just a little light Judaism lesson for you. My thought is that you don’t need to be Jewish, or a religious Jew, or believe in the concept of sin (I don’t), to take some time to reflect on your year. After the jump, what I’m atoning for.

Us secular folks have sex shops like Toys In Babeland and sex toy vendors like Jimmyjane and Booty Parlor to stock our goodie drawer. But religious sex toy websites for Christians, Jews and Muslims have filled a gap in the market for people who find such sites “offensive.” As writer Allison Yarrow notes, all the products stocked on religious sex toy websites like Book 22, Kosher Sex Toys, and El Asira are exactly the same. The only difference is that the packaging has been replaced and there are no saucy images or sexually explicit language on the websites. The sites also cater to different teachings about sex as they vary by religion, such as the sites for Christians not including any products for anal play. A Jewish web site called Kosher Sex Toys even has a rabbi in Israel on hand to answer questions like whether it’s moral to spank a partner. (If you’re curious, it’s a mitzvah!)