During his early decades at Shearith Israel, Rabbi Geffen established Atlanta's first Hebrew school and oversaw its ritual bath.
Still, it was his night, and, should he pause a moment to oversee the ritual smashing of crystal balls, as the nation's polling experts bemoan the futility of their calling, one can hardly blame him.
WASHINGTON (RNS) In the days since a prominent Orthodox rabbi was charged with spying on naked women in his synagogue's mikvah, Jews who oversee the ritual baths across the country are rushing to reassure that the same scandal could not happen under their watch.
Overseeing this public ritual of humiliation, camouflaged as a romantic quest, is popular host Meng Fei, who descends calmly from a metal tube in the studio wall – as if the hysterical crowd has somehow convinced the spirit of reality TV to birth the chosen one.
The company has turned over the second floor, rent free, to the Pagan Center of New York, which holds witchcraft rituals overseen by a Wiccan high priestess named Lady Rhea.
Some mob bosses still adhere to the old ranks of gangsterdom dragon heads," at the top; "red poles," overseeing operations but many follow the ancient rituals only perfunctorily: the thirty-six oathe, the cocktail of blood and rice liquor.
Over cheese and chips, with a "Marles In Charge" sign nearby, Marshall also oversees a daily ritual of handing out awards, to both honor a staffer for success on behalf of state teams and playfully admonish those who fell short.
Some mob bosses still adhere to the old ranks of gangsterdom — "dragon heads," at the top; "red poles," overseeing operations — but many follow the ancient rituals only perfunctorily: the thirty-six oathe, the cocktail of blood and rice liquor.
Confucius stressed that appropriate emotions are essential to correct performance of rituals: "Someone who lacks magnanimity when occupying high office, who is not respectful when performing ritual, and who remains unmoved by sorrow when overseeing mourning rites how could I bear to look upon such a person?" (Analects 3.26; Slingerland 2003, 18) Mencius also stressed the importance of ritual.
It wasn't long before it became a regular ritual for the two of us with the occasional overseeing by my mom.
