The new mall, Big Fashion, in Bet Shemesh held its grand opening yesterday. I was in the area this morning and stopped in for a quick look-see. It looks nice, with a nice set of shops, and a small food court.
What is especially nice is the McDonalds that has opened. The old McDonalds in the original Big mall closed down and reopened in the new mall. The old McDonalds was not kosher, while the new McDonalds is (Rabbanut hechsher, for those interested).
Whether you will eat there or not, I am very happy that McDonalds has chosen to go kosher, and that it was not forced upon them. It is true, they made the decision after being offered major financial incentives by the mayor, and I hope that does not spur other food establishments to go not-kosher in order to try to be offered the same tax discounts, but at the end of the day they are now kosher. If you will eat there, that is great for you. If you won't eat there, whether it is because of the hechsher not being one you rely on, or because you don't like fast food, or you might have problems with McDonalds itself, at least now a non-kosher establishment in the city has converted to kosher.
The mayor, Moshe Abutbol, said at the opening that "the call of the gedolei ha'dor, led by the Gerrer Rebbe to work on behalf of keeping shabbos, has not allowed me to rest since the restaurant opened on Shabbos, and thank God I have merited today to remove this disgrace and to bring Bet Shemesh to be cleaner and more pure. I have heard from the gedolei yisroel that there is no doubt that by closing the only place that desecrated the Shabbos in the city, accusations against the city and its residents have been removed"
sign in window of old McDonalds announcing the opening of the new kosher branch
McDonalds has closed and moved to the new mall
the new McDonalds in the new Big Fashion mall
