Bar Mitzvahs Go Beyond Limbo Sticks

"It's one of the things we're known for, hiring gorgeous staff," Pat James, Bar Mitzvah planner, says as he helps a bartender prepare martini glasses right before the start of festivities.

"This, by local standards, is a modest affair. Hundreds of New York bar mitzvahs cost $100,000 or more. Many top the quarter-million-dollar mark. If you're ready to spend that sort of money on a five-hour shindig for an eighth-grader, Pat James is the man to see."

Yes, I know people have been doing this for a long time, and it's not just New Yorkers who blow their money on these things. But I'm still wowed by it.

Dan