Throwing Candy at the Bar/Bat Mitzvah

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Growing up Jewish, I remember my seventh grade year as being scattered with the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of many of my classmates, both from Hebrew School and from my regular school class. I'm sure many others also remember getting dressed up on Saturday morning, going to synagogue, listening to a friend chant in Hebrew for a couple hours, and then later that day going to a big party at a local country club or somewhere.

One of the many traditions that take place throughout the day is the throwing of the candy. This takes place after the Bar/Bat Mitzvah has just finished reading their Torah and Havtorah sections. The audience takes out the individually wrapped circular gummy candies and (hopefully) gently lobs them over the crowd and at the 13 year old at the front. Once the bombardment ends, the younger children dash to the front and collect as much candy as they can to quietly munch on back in their seats or later throughout the day.

I was reminded of this tradition in class on Monday, as we discussed sweetness. One thing that we talked about was how we tend to reward ourselves with sweets, like after finishing a paper or a long reading we will have a piece of chocolate or a cookie. One reason I knew of for this tradition of throwing candy at the Bar/Bat Mitzvah is that you are literally showering the young adult in sweetness, and wishing them a sweet transition into the next stage of their life.

Going further, I think it's interesting that, while this is happening, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah doesn't even get to eat any of the candy. Hopefully they are able to nab a few before the younger kids glean them all, but even so, it won't be until after the service that they get to eat any of the candy. But still, the expression on their faces as candy it hurtling towards them is often one of glee, pride, and happiness. At this point they know that the hardest part of the service is over, they've done it! Without even having the taste of the candy to refer to, this is still such a sweet moment for them.

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