Sunday Firesides: The Saving Power of Daily Rituals

When Primo Levi was imprisoned at Auschwitz, he was puzzled to find that a fellow inmate would vigorously wash his body every day. To Levi, the act seemed pointless: there was no one to please with a fresher countenance, and without soap or clean water, the practice did little to promote health or hygiene. The effort thus seemed “a dismal repetition of …