McDonald's won't serve Jews?

Question

Today I saw a man pacing outside of McDonald's with a sign reading "McDonald's won't serve Jews." Does anyone know what this refers to? My guess is it's something about kosher food, but I don't know.

Answer 1

Just another idiot looking for attention. McDonald's doesn't ask your religion, so how could they discriminate?

Answer 2

There was a controversy a while back (it's over now, because I have seen an Israeli McDonald's, but maybe the man was misinformed) where a lot of companies wouldn't sell to Israel because then all the Arabs would boycott them. This was condemned by many other countries including the UN, although it was understandable. It's also possible the man was a nutter who decided to take his personal problem with McDonald's and try to generate a controversy about it to cause a stir and get what he wanted. It is also perfectly logical that this man petitioned McDonalds for a kosher restaurant, and they refused...in which case he is not going about it the right way.

Answer 3

It sounds as if he was maybe Ultra-Orthodox. They believe in a very strict interpretation of the Mosaic Law one of whose commandments is that they are not to boil the meat of a kid (calf, goat, etc) in it's mother's milk, apparently an ancient Canaanite pagan ritual.

The ultra-orthodox have two sets of dishes, pans, etc so that they can have cheese and meats but there will be no chance of their being cooked together.

As it has been pointed out by other people here, a cheeseburger would violate Mosaic law in their eyes, as there is no absolute guarantee that the meat and the milk from the cheese didn't come from a mother and it's offspring. Neither could the restaurant conclusively state that the equipment used to make the burger didn't touch both meat and cheese at some point.

In Israel, McDonalds has started opening restaurants with blue roofs rather than the traditional red roofs, to indicate that the restaurant was Kosher and that no milk products are used to make the meals.

The man you are speaking of perhaps tried to argue with the manager concerning the issue and was refused service. So, he took measures to make it seem that the restaurant was racist, knowing that it would create conttroversy, be a flashpoint for the community and would embarrass the restaurant manager.

Answer 4

I wonder if (as someone else answered earlier) they don't make kosher food. Well because you are of a specific ethnic group, does everyone have to carry specific foods on their premises? IE no hog fat, no bacon on the premises (it may contaminate other foods) Come on let's not carry this ethnic thing too far. Jews weren't the only ones that were persecuted. And you don't hear of other religious groups complaining. I for one, my religion forbids eating meat. Should I carry placards protesting that Wendies serves beef along side of my french fries? Let's get real.

Answer 5

I don't think a restaurant is under any obligation to change their menu to make it Kosher... so if a man was looking for a kosher meal and it was refused, the McDonald's probably has every right to do so.

Answer 6

The food isn't certified kosher, but most fast food places aren't. It would be really difficult to follow orthodox rules, because meat and dairy can't even be in the same refridgerator. Not all Jewish are that strict, though. I used to work at McDonalds, and we had Jewish customers. They just ordered hamburgers instead of cheeseburgers.

Answer 7

Eating a cheeseburger (read: dairy and meat from the same animal) would be against kosher law. But there's nothing stopping the guy from ordering a hamburger or chicken sandwich. So I'd need to know more about what his complaint was.

Answer 8

To know what that man meant, one would have to ask him.
And even if you got his explanation, there is no guarentee you'd understand...

MacDonald's are not kosher restuarrants. They never will be. That doesn't meant they won't serve anyone who wants the food they choose to prepare.

Any insistance on monoculture, that we all eat dress act believe live the same - is pretty sad. As is believing everything put in writing, be it on signs on the street or on YahooAnswers.

Answer 9

My guess is that they are trying to avoid another law suit....probably related to the issue of Kosher friendly foods.

In my opinion,Mcdonalds should not be serving anybody.

Answer 10

I need more info to respond to this question. However I would like to state that if one keeps Kosher, a CheeseBurger is definitely not an option. Hamburgers are OK. Cheese Sandwiches are OK. But not together. I know those sounds strange to the uninitiated but there you are.
I Cr 13;8a

Answer 11

Probably this individual doesn't like that they don't server kosher food. He has every right to observe his dietary laws, but no right to insist that third parties cater to them. Note he does have a right not be be defrauded (i.e. presented with non-kosher food and told it's kosher).