Hanukkah Menorahs in Dorm Rooms?

Jewish students who want to light a menorah in their dorm room often find that this is against the rules. Schools need to find a fair way to address this issue.

If you're looking to spruce up your dorm room for the holidays, here are some tips:

Holiday Dorm Room Decorating Ideas

But what if you live in a dorm and want to light a Hanukkah menorah? The thing is, candles are almost always forbidden in dormitories. When so many people live in close quarters, fire hazards are a serious concern, so open flames are a big no-no.

However, lighting the menorah in one's home is an important religious ceremony. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the Temple candle that burned for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day's worth of flame. Because of this, electric menorahs and other substitutions don't share the religious significance of physically lighting a menorah.

So what is a Jewish college student to do? On campuses where there is a significant Jewish population, organizations such as Hillel light the menorah. Other schools have menorah lighting ceremonies in the student center or in public dormitory areas. For many students, this satisfies the need to light a menorah in one's "home." However, other Jewish students feel they have a religious obligation to light menorahs in their rooms. And for Jewish students who do not attend a college with a significant Jewish population, public menorah lightings aren't an option.

What to do? Some students light their menorahs regardless, and colleges often look the other way. Whether this is a good idea, colleges and universities really need to address this issue in a way that is fair to Jewish students. Perhaps the no-candles rule can be lifted with certain precautions (such as a fire extinguisher in the room), and perhaps schools can go out of their way to provide public candle lightings on campus, even if there are only a few Jewish students.