Kosher McDonalds

Tonight Heather and I took a stroll through Jerusalem people watching and putzing. We stumbled across McDonalds. Some of the Israeli franchises look just like home. Others display signs in blue and white rather than the classic red and yellow. The difference: Kosher McDonalds. Other than the color scheme we wondered what was different. We approached the golden arches and walked inside and stood in front of the menu boards.

“I don’t see a cheeseburger, do you? Meat and dairy is a kosher no-no.”
“No, wait. Is that cheese on the #4?”
“No, I think that is thousand island dressing. Maybe with non-dairy dressing.”
“Is mayonnaise dairy?”
“Sometimes. Maybe here it is just transfats. What about the #4? Hey, look, there is ice cream. Dairy!”

With high-level philosophical conversations such as these around every corner, I wondered how we would ever return to regular life. Traveling offers non-stop entertainment or at least the opportunity for it – the investigation of what differentiates kosher McDonalds from regular McDonalds, just one example.

So, for the answer: #4 was a cheeseburger and we were in a regular McDonalds. Kosher McDonalds does not serve cheese, is closed on the Sabbath and offers ice cream, but in a section completely separated from the rest of the eating establishment.