Orthodox Mag Condemns Gay Marriage

Prominent New York City Orthodox rabbis oppose efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State, and they feel "smeared" by the impression that they are willing to accept such unions, says the editor of an Orthodox publication.

Dovid G. Schwartz, editor of Zeh Journal, issued a press release saying the rabbis support "measures to distance the Orthodox Jewish communities" from elected officials and candidates who back gay marriage. He promised a survey of rabbis on the journal's website, but Monday morning there was no survey, simply a promo saying, "Rabbis back condemning 'same-sex marriage' politicians ... more to follow with the help of Gd."

Schwartz's press release lists homosexuality as an act of "sexual immorality" along with rape and incest. On Zeh's website he also has an open letter to New York State senators, saying, "These prohibited relationships misdirect the awesome drive of human desire and squander its life-giving power in activities that can never give rise to the birth of children in the stable context of the relationship between a husband and wife as father and mother."

The New York assembly passed a marriage equality bill in May, and the senate is expected to vote on it before the end of the year.

Orthodox Judaism is the most conservative of the three major Jewish traditions. The most liberal, the Reform movement, supports marriage equality, while the middle-ground Conservative movement supports civil unions for gays.