The following letter to the editor, appeared in The Riverdale Press on December 20, 2007:
To the editor:
On Dec. 7 I took my two small grandsons to McDonald’s on West 236th Street and Broadway for lunch and to play. To my disappointment I found there was no menorah anywhere in the restaurant.
There were many Christmas decorations all over as well as a Christmas tree so why not a menorah? There are many, many Jewish people that eat there so why not celebrate our holiday as well?
They have lost me as a customer. I have written this same note to McDonald’s. Most of the stores along West 231st Street have a menorah in their window so why should this restaurant not have one?
ARLYNE STOLL
A spokeswoman from McDonald’s contacted Ms. Stoll to tell her a menorah would be displayed at the Broadway restaurant on Dec. 12. Hanukkah ended on Dec. 11. -editor
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30 Responses
That is pretty funny.
Only in America!
Nebach.
Toraso shel MaMaSH
Nebach! So sad! ;**(
I guess Hashem is trying to hint to this lady not to patronize non-kosher establihments.
let’s hope we don’t hear the reverse also, goyim complaining that a restaurant doesn’t display a tree and a zaidy wearing a red suit. (not even by purim way after the season)
This woman is an idiot. The whole concept of Tinok Sh’nishbah wouldn’t even apply here, since it is widely known that McDonald’s isn’t kosher. Not only that, but this is golus, and no one should be required to display any form of religious articles. This is like the ham that went on sale for Chanukah.
This is how I replyd on Riverdale Press to that letter (I still di think they are Tinokos Shenishbu):
A Menorah has no place in McDonalds since it’s a historic fact that any Jew eating in McDonalds would have apposed the Macaby’s at the time of the Hanukah miracle, and would have been part of the Helenist movement which did exactly what he is doing today. The holiday of Hanukah is to celebrate the halt of assimilation, and the restoration of the Jewish practices and way of life, which includes the laws of Kashrut.
Menora in a goishe place ????????? its like pesachdike beer or glatt kosher at a Reform temple or kosher cheeseburgers or kosher clams. The women is an assimilated tinokes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This would really be funny if it weren’t so sad. It just proves the abysmal ignorance of yiddishkeit pervasive in our country and around the world. I do not think this woman is to blame but, halevei, more Yiddishe people should be “offended” and stop patronizing McDonald’s and similar establishments. Our kuruv organizations have their work cut out for them.
Boruch Hashem! If only for such cases, McDonalds should be encouraged not to put up Menorahs, and to do everything legal that they can to make Jews feel unwelcome. In fact, maybe some gevir can invest in McDonalds, just to implement such a policy! Imagine if all the Jews were to boycott McDonalds, what a wonderful thing that would be!
Now you know why we need Kosher Cheese Burgers!
THEY SHOULD BE FAIR WHEN IT COMES TO HOLIDAYS IF THEY CAN PRACTICE THEIR FAITH WHY CANT WE.SOMEONE EATING IN MCDONALD DOES NOT MEAN SHE IS NOT JEWISH HER LICHT IN HER HEART IS BURNING FOR YIDDISHKEIT
This has to be a joke. I’m amazed that The Riverdale Press published it all.
“Menora in a goishe place ????????? its like pesachdike beer or glatt kosher at a Reform temple or kosher cheeseburgers or kosher clam”
OR ITS LIKE RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, A FREE RIDE WHEN YOU ALREADY PAID, OR 10,000 SPOONS WHEN ALL YOU NEED IS A KNIFE – ISN/T IT IRONIC- don’ ya think
It is incumbent on all yiddin to nicely write to McDonalds asking them NOT to put a menora up. We should come up with NORMAL reasons which means please forget the “offended” reason.
maybe it is also a good opportunity from someone in Riverdale to visit Mrs. Stoll with some “late” chanukah presents for her Grandchildren and nicely explain to her what Chanukah is and try to make the tiny spark in her grow.
Once the conservative movement gives their “hashgocho” to McDonalds, they’ll get her business back in a flash.
guest123 – thanks for the laughs – i couldnt stop……..
Oy! The next thing you will see is complaints about churches. Many of the churches that I see have nativity scenes, and other Goyishe seasonal decorations. No Menorahs. What a shanda!
PREDICTION #1: Next year we will see the people who were born Jews protest to the churches and threaten to refuse to go into them anymore unless they put up Menorahs. The McDonalds protesters will join them in this protest.
PREDICTION #2: The year after, you will see menorahs in front of the evangelical Baptist churches. This will please all the Jews who stopped eating at McDonalds, and their halls will be filled with these “tinokim”.
PREDICTION #3: Someone from Chabad will take credit for #2.
PREDICTION #4: Those same people from Chabad who are mentioned in #3, will now protest, trying to put up menorahs in front of the other churches, maybe even the Catholic churches. Great photo-op with Priest and Rabbi lighting the Menora together alongside the nativity scene.
PREDICTION #5: Dozens of people will run online and protest against Chabad’s actions on these blogs.
PREDICTION #6: Some people from Chabad will log on and tell us how wonderful it is that Menorahs are not in all McDonald’s restaurants, Baptist Churches, and Catholic Churches. … and that is we do not like it, we are SNAGS (their words for misnagdim… which they define as any frum Jew who is not a Lubo)
They will announce a new Shaliach to McDonalds
A New Shaliach to the Baptists
and a New Shaliach to the Catholics, who is also writing in telling us that he finally got the priest to put tzitzis on that tallis-looking thing they are wearing, and how the dialogue between them is improving.
PREDICTION #7: Chabad will announce a conflict between them and the churches as to whose messiah can beat up whose.
PREDICTION #8: New 770 models with model Rebbe’s in the window will be put next to all those menorahs and nativity scenes as the solution to the conflict.
PREDICTION #9: Two big men with white coats will take me away in a straight jacket for typing this shtus.
Folk, I wrote complete shtus this in jest. Take no offense.
Lol #19. Pretty good Mr. DM.
[The problem is that reality can be stranger (and worse) than fiction!]
The menorah of channuka is not like the menorah in the temple. The menorah in the temple was lit in a holy place, and it was lit during the day, and it had to be pure oil, and all this at a time of material and spiritual prosperity for the jewish people. The menorah in the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple), had seven branches corresponding to the seven days of creation and the natural order of things.
The chanukka menorah on the other hand is lit specifically at night, and in the left side of the doorway (the left represents negative forces that oppose the Torah and Hashem which is represented by the mezuza on the right side). Another difference is that on chanukka we make sure to light to the outside, as is customary of Jews in the Holy Land to light outside their houses. Besides the actual mitzvah of lighting the menorah we also have a very crucial mitzvah in chanukka to publicize the miracle. This mitzvah can be done in many different ways and should specificly be done in those low and dark places to prepare the whole world for the light that will follow the coming of moshiach. This will be the light of 8, and number which suprass all the limits of nature and is connected to the infinite aspect of Hashem that is able to transform the darknes itself into light.
The fact that that woman wanted a menorah….and the fact that every other restaurant had a menorah, this woke up her jewish soul and her jewish pride. The important thing is to focus on the positive and to see that this act itself accomplished through the lights of chanukka. When moshiach comes it says that the goyim themselves will come and urge us to do mitzvas and will help us fulfill them. Even the inanimate ground we walk on will yell at us if we walk on it without reciting words of Torah saying “If your not fulfilling the purpose for whish you were created then what makes you better than me to walk on me!!”. Since these words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe are coupled with his prophecy that he announced to be publicized to all the people of the generation “that moshiach is coming immidiatley..this is the last generation of golus and the first generation of geula..no jew will be left behind” It becomes clear why this woman was disturbed by there not being a menorah in mcDonalds.
The nature of the jew is his jewish soul which is compared to an olive which must be crushed in order to retreive the oil. This oil which is the essence of the jewish soul burns within us in golus not only for 8 days but everyday of the year with a power that is completly unworldly.
As soon as I saw this, I knew that there must be someone who will drag Chabad into this story even though they are clearly not involved. DM you must be proud! Anti-semitism comes in various forms.
GUEST123 #14,
Give credit where credit is due. Especially after #18’s comment….
It is incumbent on all yiddin to nicely write to McDonalds asking them NOT to put a menora up.
I fail to see why that is so.
Great. 1 lady wants to show her grandchildren the beauty of their faith – only showing that her pintele yid is alive and shining – and all you can do is knock her down. Maybe to you it would be better if she were a self hating Jew, because as we all know thise are the most pleasant people to deal with.
Im suprised that the she didnt find the menorah but she found the hechsher.
Hey Sholom Ber,
Did you see my last line? I said it was shtus and not to take offense. It was meant to be funny. I am not a Chabad Hater. Some of my best friends are Lubos … Yes, I try to cure them, but I am friends with them anyway.
Why is it, that Lubos have no sense of humor?
Did it die with your Rebbe’s histalkus.
Many of you are over sensitive.
You can easily tease other groups. Each group has its own characteristics. Lubavitch is well known for taking credit for any public involvement with menorahs. Even if Chabad had nothing to do with it, as in this case, many times Some Chabad person jumps in and assumes it was Chabad and takes credit, only to have other posters remind him that Chabad had nothing to do with that.
and… come on, we have all just witnessed all the menorah parades, have a sense of humor. Do not be over sensitive.
By the way, I am a Non-Chabad Chossid, who just happens to daven a lot in chabad, and has lots of real chabad friend, all jokes aside.
Get a sense of humor. Not every poke at Chabad is made by “Anti-” people. Some are just friendly people recognizing humorous situations. This is one of them.
#14 (guest123): Please say things b’shem omro [in the name of the person who said it first] – and if you feel like you don’t want to do that, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE POSTED THAT ON YW in the first place
My message was not written in defense of Chabad or because i took offense at the comments made about them in the previous posts. I was standing up for the woman who is receiving criticism for wanting to be more jewish with silly remarks from people that think they know what they are talking about. The Rebbe’s way is to focus on the good, and would not stand for any jew being put down.
To cite and example: In the 70’s there was a certain Litvish yeshiva student that was coming closer to Chabad, and began growing out his beard. His Rosh Yeshiva called him into the office and said that he should shave his beard because otherwise he will be mistaken for one of the hippies and this will be a chilul Hashem. The conflicted yeshiva student managed to squeeze in a meeting with the Rebbe soon afterwards for his birthday..and he told the Rebbe his whole dilemma. Suprisingly though the Rebbe seemingly avoided answering him and said the following: “The jews that left egypt it says were redeemed based on 3 merits. They kept their names, dress, and language. The hippies also kept their jewish names…” and the Rebbe began naming many famous jewish hipies by name..”and they have their own style of dress, and they have their own language, AND THEY DESERVE TO BE REDEEMED JUST AS MUCH AS THE GENERATION THAT LEFT EGYPT!!!!” The student left the Rebbe’s room puzzled with the Rebbe’s answer and why he totally ignored the beard issue. The fact of the matter was that this Rosh Yeshiva said that looking like a hippie is a chilul hashem, and since there were many jewish hippies..the Rebbe couldn’t help but to come to their defense, and this was much more important, then the seeming issue about the beard.
also about the idea of tink shenishba, where #6 says that it doesn’t apply because it is a known thing that Mcdonalds isnt kosher. This is not true because the Rebbe says that the whole generation is considered to be tinuk shenishba, and even though she might have known that Mcdonald’s isnt kosher..she wasnt brought up to know that treif is bad to begin with so it wouldn’t matter.
Hearken and hear Israel,1 this is the time marked for the redemption by Mashiach. The sufferings befalling us are the birth-pangs of Mashiach. Israel will be redeemed only through teshuva.2 Have no faith in the false prophets who assure you of glories and salvation after the War.3 Remember the word of G-d, “Cursed is the man who puts his trust in man, who places his reliance for help in mortals, and turns his heart from G-d” (Yirmiyahu 17:5). Return Israel unto the Eternal your G-d;4 prepare yourself and your family to go forth and receive Mashiach, whose coming is imminent.
Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe.
FOOTNOTES
1. Devarim 27:9.
2. Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit I:1.
3. Note that this was during the early 1940’s.
4. Hoshei’a 14:2.