"Doing repentance" in the religious world is thought to mean joining the religious world. But I think that the social norms of the religious world are very different from the Torah. "Doing repentance" is a worthy goal but I think it is the exact opposite of religious world. The reason I say this is because the norms of the Torah and the norms and values of the religious world are opposites.
Being strict in rituals way beyond the requirements of the Torah ought to be a warning signal in the first place. Why would people go so overboard about rituals unless there was something else they were covering up?
It is hard to point out any group whose norms are close to Torah. I think the closest you can get to actual Torah is Ponovitch and the great Litvak yeshivas where what the Torah actually says is what matters, not social norms. I mean to say there are places where the emphasis is on actually keeping and learning Torah.
Being strict in rituals way beyond the requirements of the Torah ought to be a warning signal in the first place. Why would people go so overboard about rituals unless there was something else they were covering up?
It is hard to point out any group whose norms are close to Torah. I think the closest you can get to actual Torah is Ponovitch and the great Litvak yeshivas where what the Torah actually says is what matters, not social norms. I mean to say there are places where the emphasis is on actually keeping and learning Torah.
