Outcry over
Jewish same-sex commitment ceremony in Russia

The leading Jewish organization in Russia is calling for a boycott of Reform Jews after a Reform rabbi officiated at what is believed to be the country's first Jewish same-sex commitment ceremony. "We are calling on Jewish organizations and communities of Russia to relinquish any religious contacts with the people who have committed this sacrilegious and provocative act, as well as with the organizations these people represent," said a statement released Thursday by the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the largest Jewish group in the country. The ceremony for an unnamed lesbian couple in Moscow took place on April 2 but was publicized only this week by a Moscow newspaper. Rabbi Nelly Shulman, who officiated at the ceremony, insisted she did so on her own private initiative and was not backed in any way by her group, the umbrella organization of Reform Judaism in Russia. (Sirius OutQ News)