Whiplash Can Follow a Car Crash or a Wedding Announcement
Avi Smolen Justin Rosen, left, and Avi Smolen caused a stir among Orthodox Jews when their wedding announcement was published in The New Jersey Jewish Standard.
A young couple, who grew up in Conservative Jewish congregations, who met at a Jewish day camp and whose lives have been dominated by Jewish interests, sent a wedding announcement to The New Jersey Jewish Standard.
It said that Avichai Smolen, 23, and Justin Rosen, 24, planned to be married this month by Rabbi Joshua Gruenberg at North Shore Synagogue in Syosset, N.Y.
After much deliberation, the newspaper ran the announcement - the first in its 79-year history for a same-sex marriage - in its Sept. 24 issue. Then, in its next issue, citing complaints from Orthodox rabbis and a “firestorm” that resulted, it issued an apology for the “pain and consternation” the announcement had caused members of the Orthodox community. It promised not to run similar announcements again.