It’s rare, but it still happens — Disney sometimes makes mistakes. But this particular mistake seems quite short-sighted, and it has to do with their holiday pop-up.
As part of their International Festival of Holidays, which takes place in Disney World’s Epcot park, they chose to recognize Hanukkah. Hanukkah starts on December 2nd this year, which falls right in the middle of the park’s festivities (they started up on November 18th and will run until December 30th). Part of that recognition includes cooking up some traditional food eaten during the holiday, and in Jewish culture. But unfortunately, they got things wrong.
When you think of Jewish cuisine, you may think of matzo ball soup, kugel, potato latkes, and yummy sufganiyot, which is more or less a jelly donut. All of the above would fit in perfectly at Epcot. But unfortunately, the menu at the L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen includes pastrami sandwiches and a black and white cookie. They include the matzo ball soup, but it’s almost an afterthought.
Menu at the L'Chaim! Holiday Kitchen in Epcot. Next to France. pic.twitter.com/hRrFQ2vBOK
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) November 17, 2018
But that’s not the worst part. As you probably know, many observant Jewish people keep kosher. That means that they can only eat meat slaughtered by a Schochet, or ritual slaughterer, ensuring the animal didn’t suffer any unnecessary pain.
According to Insider, the food on the menu is not certified kosher.
Disney seems to have confused “Jewish holiday food” with “New York Deli.” Where are the latkes and sufganiyot?
— Brian Beck (@tigerhawk310) October 26, 2018
Since the whole purpose of the event is to celebrate other cultures, you’d think someone would do a little bit of research beforehand. While it’s great for Jewish food to be included, hopefully next year they’ll review the menu to offer more delicious, and culturally appropriate, selections.
