Jewish Standard Publisher Responds to Same-Sex Wedding Announcement Controversy

The Teaneck-based Jewish Standard newspaper will hold meetings with local rabbis and may have "acted too quickly" in issuing a statement saying the paper would no longer publish same-sex wedding announcements, the newspaper's publisher said in a statement Tuesday.

"We did not expect the heated response we got, and — in truth — we believe now that we may have acted too quickly in issuing the follow-up statement, responding only to one segment of the community," said Publisher James Janoff in a statement posted to the newspaper's Facebook page. "We will also be printing, in the paper and online, many of the letters that have been pouring in since our statement was published. The issue clearly demands debate and serious consideration, which we will do our best to encourage."

The statement did not say if the newspaper would publish letters of those who originally criticized a wedding announcement of a gay couple. The statement also did not say if the newspaper would publish same-sex wedding announcements or if it was reconsidering the decision. 

In a statement Monday, editor Rebecca Kaplan Boroson said the newspaper would not publish any same-sex wedding announcements after receiving complaints from unnamed members of the traditional Orthodox Jewish community. Boroson has repeatedly declined to comment on the decision and the circumstances leading up to it.

Representatives from the newspaper could not be immediately reached for comment late Tuesday night.

Teaneck Patch will continue to update this story. A previous report on the newspaper's decision can be found here.