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Jul 9, 2020
customer loses Supreme Court petition against McDonalds over chametz on Pesach
A while back someone filed a request for a class action suit against McDonalds in Israel to the tune of 63 million shekels. The fellow's claim was that he had ordered a kosher l'pesach meal, I guess on Pesach, and was shocked to discover that they also sell waffles with ice cream that is chametz. He felt deceived and wanted to file a class action suit.
The fellow claimed that by ordering a kosher l'pesach meal he was led to believe that all the food sold in that not-kosher branch of McDonalds would be kosher and appropriate for Pesach. By creating a special menu for Pesach, the impression was that it is kosher for pesach, and if they are selling chametz, they should say so explicitly ont he menu. Without such a statement he claimed, they are deceiving the customer.
McDonalds claimed in response that they never used the word "kosher" and the special menu items for Pesach indicate nothing regarding other items on the menu.
In January the District Court of Tel Aviv rejected his petition and ordered the petitioner to pay court costs, to the tune of 40,000nis. The court explained its logic that any reasonable person going into a not-kosher restaurant would not expect the food to be kosher for Pesach, and there is no need for the restaurant to explicitly state that that is the case.
The customer petitioned the Supreme Court to be allowed to file a class action suit, and the Supreme Court has now rejected his petition as well, though without obligating him in court costs.
source: Hamechadesh
What is a McDonalds Pesach meal - a cheeseburger on matza? Did he think the cheeseburgers on the menu were kosher or just that the matza kashered everything else?
Many people who are not religious still do cultural things and even if they dont keep everything about Pesach, they might eat matza on Pesach or find other ways to incorporate some aspect of Pesach into their lives for those 7 days. Going to a treif restaurant but ordering a Pesach meal is a perfect example of that. If this fellow is shocked by chametz on pesach, perhaps he should be eating in a kosher restaurant - even if just for the week of Pesach. McDonalds does have kosher branches..
I do wonder about the law against selling chametz on Pesach in public. Does McDonalds just flaunt the law? Do they get fined? Maybe they are willing to absorb the fine as a cost of doing business. This fellow should have reported the restaurant to the authorities for breakign the chametz law rather than file a stupid lawsuit.
The fellow claimed that by ordering a kosher l'pesach meal he was led to believe that all the food sold in that not-kosher branch of McDonalds would be kosher and appropriate for Pesach. By creating a special menu for Pesach, the impression was that it is kosher for pesach, and if they are selling chametz, they should say so explicitly ont he menu. Without such a statement he claimed, they are deceiving the customer.
McDonalds claimed in response that they never used the word "kosher" and the special menu items for Pesach indicate nothing regarding other items on the menu.
In January the District Court of Tel Aviv rejected his petition and ordered the petitioner to pay court costs, to the tune of 40,000nis. The court explained its logic that any reasonable person going into a not-kosher restaurant would not expect the food to be kosher for Pesach, and there is no need for the restaurant to explicitly state that that is the case.
The customer petitioned the Supreme Court to be allowed to file a class action suit, and the Supreme Court has now rejected his petition as well, though without obligating him in court costs.
source: Hamechadesh
What is a McDonalds Pesach meal - a cheeseburger on matza? Did he think the cheeseburgers on the menu were kosher or just that the matza kashered everything else?
Many people who are not religious still do cultural things and even if they dont keep everything about Pesach, they might eat matza on Pesach or find other ways to incorporate some aspect of Pesach into their lives for those 7 days. Going to a treif restaurant but ordering a Pesach meal is a perfect example of that. If this fellow is shocked by chametz on pesach, perhaps he should be eating in a kosher restaurant - even if just for the week of Pesach. McDonalds does have kosher branches..
I do wonder about the law against selling chametz on Pesach in public. Does McDonalds just flaunt the law? Do they get fined? Maybe they are willing to absorb the fine as a cost of doing business. This fellow should have reported the restaurant to the authorities for breakign the chametz law rather than file a stupid lawsuit.
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Lots of Israelis (and non-Orthodox Jews in the US) who aren't so careful about kashrut (or ignore it altogether) the rest of the year will be much more careful about chametz on Pesach. It's the old "more careful about karet" thing that seems to have filtered down, which is perhaps why Israelis don't drive on Yom Kippur and so on.
ReplyDeleteNote that even non-kosher McDonalds don't use wheat buns on Pesach. But of course they're right; you're going to a non-kosher place, you can't expect 100% kashrut.
For the record, McDonalds in Israel doesn't have cheeseburgers on the menu, but will make one if you ask. Apparently it's only old people who ask. They also don't serve bacon or any pig products at all, and of course the meat is kosher. What basically makes them "non-kosher" is that they serve milkshakes (even the kosher ones do!) and are open on Shabbat.
interesting. thanks. I didnt know the non-kosher branches dont sell cheeseburgers.
ReplyDeleteand yes, I agree about the cultural issue, and it was discussed in a book I recently reviewed called #israelijudaism - if I am not mistaken, many who do eat Pesach food on Pesach do so while not eating kosher..eg they will eat matza at their non-kosher meal, etc
Oh sure. Even 100% treyf restaurants in Tel Aviv switch the bread with matza.
DeleteLet me stress that McDonald's *sells* cheeseburgers, but they're not on the menu. Of course, it takes just one cheeseburger to make the grill treyf.