The way you say “fast food” in Hebrew is: ״מזון מהיר״ which literally means, “rapid meal.” Cute, right? Since the malls and restaurants are now open I thought I’d just show you some cute pictures of a couple of the local pizza delivery joints we frequent, and the food court at the local mall. Remember, this is all in Ra’anana, a mixed secular and modern-orthodox community. First of all, although the food court is open, there are no table or chairs whatsoever. It is entirely take-out, as in, “take it all the way out of the mall and do not even think about congregating here to eat.” And as for the two specific pizza joints, I just get a kick out of the fact that they have those religious signs in the window. I mean, the random guy behind the counter is not a rabbi or talmudic scholar, and while yes, he likely is wearing a kippah, he’s just a kid wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans; not a black hat and long black coat. And he’s just taking your pizza order. Its just seems so incongruous to me when you really take the time to read the signs. One says, literally, “Here, we put on T’fillin.” Everytime I see it I’m like, “that’s totally cool and jewishly awesome, but I’m just ordering a pizza…” and the other says, “Keep and remember the Sabbath in its holiness, for she is the source of blessing.” And its not a small sign – its big and yellow – as big as the picture of the pizza which shows what the place actually does! Every time I walk in there (which I admit is more often that I probably should) it makes me stop for a moment – like, “OK… that’s really deep. Is it OK if I just get my pizza now?”
