[The following is a statement from Agudath Israel’s NJ office in response to yesterday’s approval of the same-gender marriage bill by the Assembly. The bill has been delivered to the desk of the Governor today and is expected to be vetoed] Rabbi Meir Brody, director of Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey regional office, reacted to the New Jersey legislature’s decision to upend the traditional meaning of marriage, asserting that “the recent votes demand that we speak up and declare that by attempting to legislate a radical redefinition of the term “marriage” into New Jersey law, the legislature has taken a stance that, in the end, demeans religious communities like the Orthodox Jewish one, and all Americans who consider the institution of marriage in its traditional form to be the foundation of both family and civilized society.

“The votes effectively send the message that deep-seated religious beliefs, our commitment to the immutable tenets of Judaism, are nothing more than rank prejudice. Legislators are free to believe that, if they indeed do. But we strongly disagree, and consider this attempt to capitulate to contemporary shifting conventions lamentable.

The Agudath Israel representative expressed his encouragement, however, over Governor Christie’s pledge to veto the bill.

“Let us all,” Rabbi Brody continued, addressing his fellow residents of New Jersey, “affirm the integrity and sanctity of marriage in our great state.”

And, addressing Jewish New Jerseyans, he continued: “We are heirs to a timeless and holy wisdom. Judaism is not a mirror of society’s shifting mores. Let us be a true light in an increasingly darkening world.” TLS.