The Jealous God of Chanukah

Isometimes think that the hardest part of Judaism is its regimen of self-improvement. Moderate your appetites - no Chateau this-and-that, no Swiss on a reuben, no lobster. Sex is for marriage and marriage is for children. Revere your parents. These are very tall orders. But they also aren't far from the bourgeois virtues, which is why plenty of moral atheists ask themselves: If I can live well without God, what's the point of religion?