What Candy to Throw at a Bar Mitzvah

By Ben George

Every synagogue has a version of the same moment. The bar or bat mitzvah finishes chanting, the last blessing lands, and a rabbi or gabbai gives the nod. Then the air fills with candy. Soft, wrapped, brightly colored candy, most of it aimed with more love than accuracy, while a pack of younger kids dives into the aisles to collect it.

For decades that candy was almost always Sunkist Fruit Gems. This year it nearly stopped being an option. If you’re working out what candy to throw at a bar mitzvah in the next few months, here’s where Fruit Gems stand, why the tradition works the way it does, and what to buy while they’re gone, starting with Clever Candy Fruit Jelly Jewels, the closest substitute we’ve found.

Can You Still Get Fruit Gems for a Bar Mitzvah?

Not right now, but they’re coming back. The Ferrara Candy Company discontinued Fruit Gems on May 1, 2026. A Ferrara customer service representative blamed weak demand, and the company later said it wanted to focus its resources on future growth and innovation. When the news spread through Jewish media in late September, synagogues and families rushed to buy what was left, and Fruit Gems sold out on Amazon and Walmart.

Then on September 26, Sunkist announced that Fruit Gems will return. Three days later it told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency they’d be back on shelves in early 2027, made with CandyRific, a candy company in Kentucky. Sunkist says the new Fruit Gems will keep the individual wrappers, the soft texture, the fruit flavors and the kosher certification. Check which hechsher is on the new bags when they arrive, since a new maker can mean a new certifier. Our Sunkist Fruit Gems listing is still up, but it’s out of stock until then.

So if your event is before spring 2027, plan on a substitute. Fruit Jelly Jewels come closest, and there are more options below. If your simcha is later than that, there’s a good chance the real thing will be back, but keep a fallback in mind until it’s actually on shelves.

Why We Throw Candy at a Bar Mitzvah

The idea is simple. Sweets for a sweet occasion. The celebrant has just read from the Torah for the first time as an adult, and the community showers them with a wish that the life ahead of them, and their learning, will be sweet. “We want the Torah to be sweet,” Rabbi Gershon Albert of Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland told J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

The custom is older at weddings than at bar mitzvahs. The Talmud already describes guests throwing roasted grain and nuts in front of a bride and groom. The aufruf, when a groom (and today often the couple) is called to the Torah on the Shabbat before the wedding, picked up the same habit, with nuts, raisins and sweets tossed toward the bimah for a sweet and fruitful marriage. Over time, communities extended the practice to a boy called up for his bar mitzvah, and later to girls at a bat mitzvah.

It hasn’t always been universal. Several Eastern European rabbis objected to throwing candy at a bar mitzvah boy, noting there’s no hint of that custom in the Talmud, and worried about decorum, children scrambling over the pews, and the occasional injury. In the old Ashkenazi communities of Central Europe, throwing things inside the sanctuary was almost unheard of. Today the custom is widespread across Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Chabad and liberal congregations alike, though the details vary. Some shuls hand out candy in advance, some throw only at the end of the aliyah, and a few ask families to skip it. Always ask your rabbi or synagogue office before you buy.

What Makes a Good Candy to Throw at a Bar Mitzvah?

Fruit Gems became the standard because they passed every test at once. Whatever you buy instead should pass the same five.

1. Soft. Nothing hard. Congregations have real stories of hard candy and tied-up candy bags hitting someone in the eye, or striking a Torah reader’s glasses. If it would hurt to have it tossed at you from ten rows back, don’t throw it.
2. Individually wrapped. It’s going to hit the floor. Kids will eat it anyway, so the wrapper is doing important work.
3. Kosher, with a symbol you trust. Check the hechsher on the actual bag you receive, since certifications can change. Also note whether it’s pareve or dairy if a meat kiddush follows.
4. Light and small. Lighter candy carries less force, which matters when grandparents in the front row join in.
5. Nut-free. Nuts were traditional at weddings, but in a room full of kids today, a nut-free candy is the safe call.

The Best Candy to Throw at a Bar Mitzvah Instead of Fruit Gems

These are the closest substitutes we’d reach for right now. The table compares them, and there’s more on each one below.

One note before you buy. The kosher information below comes from the manufacturers and certifying agencies as of September 2026, not from us, and CandyStore is not a kosher certifier. Certifications and packaging change, so check the hechsher on the bag you receive, and ask your rabbi if you’re unsure whether a product meets your community’s standard. If anyone has a nut or milk allergy, read the allergen statement on the bag too.

Clever Candy Fruit Jelly Jewels

The most direct replacement, and we carry them by the 10-pound case. Nassau Candy developed these as a Fruit Gems replacement, and they’re built on the same idea, a pectin jelly with a crisp sugar coating, individually wrapped, in orange, lemon, grapefruit, lime, cherry and blueberry. Nassau lists them as certified kosher by Tartikov, kosher press reports them as pareve, and they’re gluten-free and run about 46 pieces to the pound. Because they’re brand new, early cases may not show the kosher symbol on the packaging yet.

Wrapped fruit slices

Wrapped Fruit Slices are the old-school cousin of the Fruit Gem. They’re sugar-coated jelly in a half-moon shape, in orange, lemon, lime and watermelon, each in its own wrapper. Check the bag for a hechsher before you count on them for shul. The big difference is size. At roughly 18 pieces per pound they’re much heavier than a Fruit Gem, so they’re better for an underhand toss from nearby, or for handing out to kids in the aisles, than for throwing from the back.

Salt water taffy

Soft, light, twist-wrapped and very hard to hurt anyone with. Taffy Town salt water taffy is certified kosher by the OU, but it’s OU-D (dairy), so skip it if the celebration moves straight into a meat kiddush. A themed bag like Lemonade Stand (four lemonade flavors) gives you a bright, fruity mix that looks right flying through the air.

Tootsie Frooties

Small, light fruit chews in individual wrappers. They’re OU certified and dairy, so the same meat kiddush caveat as the taffy applies. They’re sold in bags of 360, one flavor per bag, so mixing a few flavors, such as watermelon, blue raspberry and strawberry, gets you the rainbow effect Fruit Gems were known for.

What to skip

Hard candy, lollipops, jawbreakers, anything with nuts, and anything in a tied bag or box. Chocolate is soft enough, but it melts in warm hands and pockets, and it’s usually dairy.

How Much Candy Do You Need for a Bar Mitzvah?

Our rule of thumb is three to five pieces per guest who’ll be throwing, plus extra for the kids who collect. For 150 guests at four pieces each, that’s 600 pieces. Here’s what 600 pieces looks like in each option.

A few tips for the day itself. Put the candy in small bowls or baskets at the end of each row before services, so people aren’t passing a bag during the Torah reading. If you’re mixing candies, keep the heavier ones for the front rows. And let the younger kids know they’ll get their turn to collect, so nobody charges the bimah mid-blessing.

When the new Fruit Gems reach distribution, we’ll update this page and our Fruit Gems listing. Until then, any of the candies above will do the job, and the kid on the bimah won’t mind at all.