Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site agrigene.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!amd!vecpyr!lll-crg!seismo!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!agrigene!buchbind From: buchbind@agrigene.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: throwing candy Message-ID: <193@agrigene.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 19:28:48 EDT Article-I.D.: agrigene.193 Posted: Fri Aug 16 19:28:48 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 06:41:13 EDT References: <741@lsuc.UUCP> <344@mhuxi.UUCP> Organization: Agrigenetics Madison,Wi. Lines: 33 > [] > David S. Green ..mhuxi!dsg > Now I am going to speculate a little bit. The Mishna ( Keth. 2,1 ) says that > food should be thrown only if the bride is deemed to be a virgin. Since today > this is not usually the case, the food is thrown at the Aufruf and not at the > wedding. 40 years ago, when virginity was more common, and today in strictly Orthodox congregations, where virginity is reasonablely presumed, I believe candy was/is thrown at the aufruf, not wedding. > Now why has this spread to barmitzvahs? Well, I can guess that since > the Mishna says "if the bride is deemed a virgin" maybe some people think that > the bridegroom should also be a virgin. Since this is even rarer, one should > throw food at the barmitzvah -- you stand a better chance of finding a virgin. I've seen congregations where it was also thrown the 1st time a person read Torah, regardless if the person was married or not. If you want metaphor, how about the Bar Mitzvah/Ba'al Korah as being seen as the bridegroom (or perhaps bride for our egalirarian friends) to the Torah? (Actually it is the nature of customs that the explainations changes readily while the ritual changes slowly, if at all. Try making up you own explaination/meaning. It might be valid as any other. (An example: the first record we have of the breaking of a glass at a wedding, commonly explained as a reminder of the destruction of the temple, was within a century of that event. The Temple wasn't mentioned. It was explained as a reminder of death - to provide a balence to the joy of the occasion. The first record of the Temple explaination is only about a century and a half old.)) -- Barry Buchbinder (608)221-5000 Agrigenetics Corp.; 5649 E. Buckeye Rd.; Madison WI 53716 USA {seismo,ihnp4,harpo}!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!agrigene!buchbind