On December 5, 2011, in response to the ceremony, more than 100 rabbis signed a statement calling gay marriage a "desecration of Torah values", saying: "We, as rabbis from a broad spectrum of the communities around the world, wish to correct the false impression that an Orthodox-approved same-gender wedding took place. By definition, a union that is not sanctioned by Torah law is not an wedding, and by definition a person who conducts such a ceremony is not an Orthodox rabbi."