These candies were perfect for throwing because they are soft, they are individually wrapped, and the temptation for eating them does not come close to overriding the fun of throwing them. They would then hoard them and trade with their friends for their favorite flavors. After everyone had thrown their candies the kids would run up and collect as many Sunkist gems as they could fit into their little hands. This tradition created a new element of fun to the usually boring bar/bat mitzvah service. Sometimes I saw the kid becoming a bar/bat mitzvah catch the candies and throw them back at their friends and family. Some hit the intended target while most just flew untouched through the air and landed on the Bima with a plop. Many candies would be thrown askew and hit an unsuspecting parent or rabbi.
At the sound of that “Mazel Tov” everyone who had a Sunkist in their hand ( those who resisted the temptation of eating it) threw it as hard as they could at the helpless kid standing on the Bima ( stage). After the singing of the last prayer ended and the “Mazel Tov” resonated throughout, the madness began. The unmistakable plastic crinkle would fill the sanctuary as the Bar Mitzvah boy/ Bat mitzvah girl’s premonition grew. ( I would always make sure I took at least two so that I could eat one). The part I most looked forward to would be towards the end of the ceremony when the little cousin or little sister ( which was me at my brothers’ Bar Mitzvah’s) would walk through the isles with a basket of Sunkist fruit gems passing them around to the audience. During my childhood I went to a lot of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs ( a Jewish ceremony for 12 and 13 year olds to represent a coming of age). When I see these little individually wrapped gelatin candy blobs I think of only one thing, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Sunkist Fruit Gems, manufactured by Jelly Belly Candy Co., are a candy classic and Kosher too.
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