A Sweet Synagogue: What Happens If You Eat Candy Once a Year?

Now, just before the Tishrei holidays, it's time to reflect on the amount of candy our children will accumulate during their time within the synagogue walls. But first, I want to reassure all the worriers among us. It's okay for kids to eat candy, but it's not okay to think that kids and candy are synonymous. So, don't say nothing happens if you eat candy once a year. Come on, really, are you serious? They eat candy once a year?! Let's do an annual calculation.

Holidays of Tishrei: On the two days of Rosh Hashanah, you'll arrive at the synagogue with a 'food pack' filled with goodies, just because you don't want your neighbor's bag to be sweeter than yours. So, you'll prepare in advance. Of course, you know your child won't eat the festive lunch you worked hard to prepare, but you understand that what matters is that they don't envy their friends' candy. Then comes Yom Kippur, when you pray that the rustling of your child's snack bags won't disturb or annoy the other worshipers. Later, during Sukkot, perhaps the first rain will fall, but it won't stop the 'judging panel' from walking between the sukkahs to receive, of course, more candy! And on Simchat Torah, the children will stand under the tallit canopies, exposed to a shower of candies as it is said: 'I will pour out blessings for you until there is no room.' And this is all before we mention the candy bag they'll receive from the synagogue's gabbai. Also, the tallit bags waiting to tear under the weight of sugar as the children gather it during the processions.

Shabbat and Holidays: Throughout the year, the sugar business flourishes each time you go to the synagogue. Firstly, any respected synagogue has an unpaid but full-time 'Uncle Gum' and/or 'Uncle Candy.' A guest who happens to find themselves in the synagogue can identify the scheduled 'uncle' by the queue lining up next to his seat. If there isn't such an 'uncle,' you might not be in a synagogue. Furthermore, a groom can't enter his chuppah and a boy can't take on the yoke of mitzvot unless candies are thrown in the synagogue. If that's not enough, then the child can always sing 'Song of Honor,' or open the ark to earn another dose of sugar, with or without artificial colors.

Torah Classes: There's no way the child attends a Torah class on Shabbat or during the week and leaves without due compensation in this world. Did they say Psalms? Or learn trop? Why shouldn't they get something tasty?

And I ask:

• Sure, we've all heard the story of the child in the house of study who learned Torah while licking honey from letters, but haven't we taken it a bit too far?
• If we give a child a reward for attending a Torah class, they might conclude that they deserve compensation for participating. Think about it, when a child goes to a basketball class, they don't get candy, but in a Torah class, they always do. Sometimes it's even promised in the flyer or course booklet. So, think about the meaning of the reward from the child's perspective.
• Children eat 'valuable' snacks at home and everywhere, but when they arrive at the synagogue, they get simple candies. The kind you, the parents, felt excited about receiving as a child, because those were the candies then. So, who needs this— the children or the parents?

Bottom line: Reduce the quantities, ensure the candies don't contain artificial colors, and if you must give rewards in Torah classes, make sure it's not candy.