Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Chabad Wants Inmates To Light Menorahs

Chabad of Arizona asked the state Department of Corrections to allow inmates to light menorahs during Chanukah using real flames.

Arizona is one of seven states that do not allow prison inmates to light menorahs using real candles or oil, Chabad told the Arizona Republic newspaper.

“It’s wrong to deny their religious freedom, especially when there are so many ways it can be done,” said Rabbi Zalman Levertov, regional director of Chabad of Arizona.

Levertov proposed having a prison guard light a menorah that is visible to the Jewish inmates.

Bill Lamoreaux, a Department of Corrections spokesman, told the newspaper that having an open flame in the prison is both a “safety and security risk.”

Arizona has some 680 Jewish inmates in its prisons, but some 11,000 inmates who want to use burning candles for ceremonial purposes.

“Any accommodation for any religion has to be allowed for others as well,” Mike Linderman, administrator of pastoral activities for the Department of Corrections, told the newspaper.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.