First time: Chanukah candles in U.S. prisons • "miracle of Chanukah"

For the first time in the United States: Inmates will be allowed to light candles in prison.

A precedential law was approved this weekend in New Jersey which ruled that Jewish prisoners will be allowed to light Hanukkah candles in a special room designated for lighting candles, under the watchful eyes of the guards.

The one who worked for the law is Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, Chabad rabbi in Livingston, New Jersey - after noticing on Hanukkah last year that prisoners are not allowed to light candles.

Mr. Gary Lanigan Director of the Prison Authority in New Jersey said, "We respect all religions and try to allow prisoners the performance of religious traditions in prison, I am glad the joint discussions between the governor's office, legal department and representatives of the Jewish community in New Jersey - could lead to new legislation ".

Rabbi Grossbaum said, "This is a miracle of Chanukah, Jews in prison for the first time will be able to perform the lighting of Chanukah candles."

The head of Pidyon Shvuyim organizations working in New York for the benefit of the Hareidi prisoners in the U.S., welcomed the news of the new law, and expressed the hope that the law will be an important legal precedent regarding other prisons.

One of the organizations said, "Unfortunately prisons in New York, New Jersey and others are full of Hareidi prisoners serving sentences of one to twenty years, who are desperate to keep as much as possible the various customs, including lighting a candle, which sheds its light on the rest of the year. We hope that the law will be a legal precedent that would allow similar legislation in the other districts. "

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!