Oy Vey — Who Will Break the Glass?

The leaders of Reform Judaism may have stopped just short of using the "M" word, but in confirming that America's largest rabbinical group would stand behind members who perform gay unions, many believe it took another brick from the wall that separates gays from mainstream America. Religion experts, however, say the biggest short-term impact of the decision may be to widen the gap between the Reform movement and other Jewish denominations and between Jews and other religions. Orthodox and Conservative rabbis, as well as some Christian groups, were quick to criticize the decision, saying it violates the teachings of the Torah and the Old Testament.

The move is by no means the first instance of groundbreaking for the Reform movement, which believes that biblical edicts should be interpreted in light of the times in which they were written. When Reform congregations allowed the ordination of female clergy, they incurred the wrath of their more conservative co-religionists, and though they drew some members away from the other movements, they also induced congregants opposed to women rabbis to switch to more mainstream synagogues.

Still, they weren't offering any apologies over their most recent move. Rabbi Paul Menitoff, the executive vice president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the umbrella group of Reform Judaism, used strong language in describing why his organization had made its decision. "Can you imagine the impact on [gays] after so many negative messages from all those religious groups?" he told the Washington Post. Some saw the remark as directed at Catholics — gay rights groups have criticized the pope in recent weeks for his failure to include gays in his mass apology for the church's past sins.

"This is certainly good for Jewish gays," notes TIME staff writer John Cloud, who reports on homosexual rights issues. "I don't think any other denominations are interested in doing something like this, but the move does carry some symbolic weight for all gays. It's another little step."