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May 25, 2022
the kosher cheeseburger that was not kosher
According to JPost, someone has filed a class action suit against Burger King in Israel for serving him a non kosher sandwich.
That sounds funny and weird, but in Israel the Burger King chain of fast food restaurants has some branches that are kosher. The kosher branches also serve cheeseburgers using vegan cheese and kosher bacon, aka facon, made from turkey. This fellow went into what he thought was a kosher branch of the chain based on the sign in front of the shop broadcasting to the public that it is kosher.
This fellow enjoyed his cheeseburger, thinking it was kosher and was so impressed with the quality of the vegan cheese commenting to a server on the way out that it tasted just like the real thing. The server responded that it tasted like the real thing because it is the real thing. The branch is not actually kosher and that was a real cheeseburger made from real meat and real cheese.
It turns out this branch had once been kosher and had the word "kosher" on their sign, but then changed to being a not-kosher branch and just never bothered to change the sign. The fellow eating there clearly did not look for the kashrut certificate but figured the sign saying kosher was enough, not "enough" as in certification but he figured if it says kosher and he knew it as kosher from the past, he surely didnt think twice about it and just assumed it is still kosher.
I am not coming here to say they should have removed the word from the sign so he is right for suing them. Nor am I coming her to say it is his own fault for not checking so he should not be suing. I am sure they were not trying to be deceptive with the sign, but they should have removed it when they decided to go not kosher. He wasnt looking for an excuse when he ate in a restaurant without checking for a kashrut certificate, nor was he trying to set them up for a suit, but he should have checked - one should always check as things often change in the restaurant industry, though to be fair many of us most of the time do not check if we are already familiar with a place - we simply assume nothing has changed.
This was an easily preventable unpleasant incident in which both sides are probably equally at fault.
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If I am not mistaken, Israeli law dictates that the word "kosher", when used as a proclamation to the public, can only be used or written by the Rabbinate on its kashrut certificates (and not by another hashgacha body). I am not sure then how a restaurant could write "kosher" to begin with, even when they truly were. For this very reason. (Although I also know that the law says that franchises with kosher and non-kosher branches in the same city must make a visual distinction between the kosher and non-kosher branches, including by adding the word "הכשר" on the sign of the kosher branch, as in " סניף ארומה בית שמש הכשר").
ReplyDeleteMany, many eating establishments have the word "Kosher" on their signs.
DeleteI think you are mistaken, yes. The word can only be used to describe something under the supervision of the Rabbanut. But if they are under such supervision, it can be displayed wherever they want.
DeleteIncidentally the badatzim respect this law, and will only issue a teudah to an establishment that also has Rabbanut. Tzohar, on the other hand...
The badatzim would be glad to give teudot without the Rabbanut. It was just illegal until now. Tzohar is taking advantage of the new law.
DeleteWhy in the world does the 'Jewish' state allow these non-kosher franchises that are US companies to have so-called 'kosher' restaurants? You can see the hypocracy of the 'Jewishness' of the state. There should not be an iota of non-kosher companies in EY.
ReplyDeleteThis is the blunt truth which should become the reality. Sadly, the opposite in the meantime exists. This is something that the G-D fearing Jews of Israel have always known but since the infrastructure of the state is nonJewish, this is what you get.
It seems the secular founders of the State of Israel defined the meaning and style of "Jewish State" different than you. That's just the way it is
DeleteMaybe because the food in the branch is... well.... kosher (and under a system of hashgacha)? Would you like the government to enforce non-kashrut in franchises, like having at least one treif option on the menu ?
DeleteTo what Rafi wrote: Indeed.
DeleteIt is the "Jewish State" not the Jewish (as narrowly defined by anonymous) State.
So what exactly is your problem here? That non-kosher chains have kosher branches or that they exist at all? Make up your mind.
DeleteI can see his point. Jewish State implies a state which is Jewish ie. follows halacha. Whereas what we really have is the State of the Jews.
DeleteThe Jewish State never meant a State that follows halacha because the State never followed halacha. It was always more of a cultural aspect of Jewish with token symbols of Judaism being kept in public (like State officials not publicly desecrating shabbos even though privately they do, and when they do publicly they would have to apologize to the religious voters and make excuses)
Delete
ReplyDeleteWhether
pro or con back then pretty much everyone acknowledged prior to the foundation of the state what the term if it were going to be used - Jewish - was accepted to mean in National State ideals
And to receive collective
ardent support from Jews - of all levels of observance - around the world who romantically could only identify a e Jewish Commonwealth in one general direction long awaited
In a nutshell - even the secular founders agreed that Jewish meant a collective traditional Judaism in comparison with any potential conflicting other option.
DeleteThat's irrespective that today there are many revisionists denying it, often orthodox.
It's interesting: The non-kosher McDonald's in Israel don't put cheeseburgers on the menu, but will make them if asked. They say that only older people ask for them. Obviously the fact that they *are* made are enough to make those places treyf. Considering that the meat is kosher and they don't serve bacon, if they got rid of the cheese option, the main thing keeping them non-kosher is that they serve milkshakes (which the kosher places do as well, from a different window) and are open on Shabbat.
ReplyDeleteYes, he should have checked the teudah. But that doesn't make his lawsuit illegitimate. They had the כשר sign up there, it was a reasonable assumption on his part..
ReplyDeleteAny which way you slice it, this should never have gotten to this level, that the basic observance of Torah should be so denigrated. What one does in his own home is between him & G-D, but the 'state' has an obligation to the citizens (meaning Jews) to keep the most basic of laws according to Torah in the public arena. Don't think that the nations don't realize this and they are thrilled that our own people disgrace themselves by throwing away our own G-D given Laws so they can assimilate, r'l, with them.
ReplyDelete