Rabbi wants real candles in Menorah at the Palm Beach County Jail

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw will not allow candles at the Palm Beach County Jail for Hanukkah.

"Even if it's a little tiny candle, it doesn't take much to start a fire. A prisoner could put it on to a deputy, just out of spite. There is just a lot of things that could happen there."

The sheriff says inmates can still celebrate the Festival of Lights during services at the jail with an electric Menorah.

But a Miami-Dade County Rabbi, who assists Jewish inmates, says it's a religious tradition to have candles which symbolize triumph over oppression in the Jewish faith.

Rabbi Menachem Katz said, "It can be done in a safe manner along as there is a corrections officer in the room and a fire extinguisher and that is what is done in other county jails."

Rabbi Katz is hoping the sheriff will change his mind and allow inmates the same traditions other Jews are doing around the world.

The rabbi said, "We are hoping that a miracle will happen here and that Palm Beach County officials will come around and allow the Jewish inmates to observe Hanukkah in an appropriate way."

But sheriff Bradshaw says he will not change his mind when it comes to safety at the jail.

"The bottom line is this is a jail, it's not the Ritz Carlton. If people were that concerned about it, then they should think about committing the crimes and then have to spend the time in jail."