(LifeSiteNews) – A coalition of Jewish female educators in Israel has issued a statement forcefully denouncing homosexual activists for advancing a conception of “family” that they say is incompatible with God’s teachings.

The group, which consists of 75 educators, Torah lecturers, and wives of rabbis, was started by Dr. Leah Weisel, the Dean of Students at Israel’s religious Orot Israel College of Education. Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Maryland-based Coalition for Jewish Values, provided LifeSiteNews with an English translation of their remarks.

“The Torah of Israel teaches us clearly and unambiguously what a family is: a covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, who will, with G-d's help, be blessed with children,” they write. “This model was established in the beginning of Creation, even prior to the formation of the Jewish People. This is the family, and there is no other.”

While affirming that the Torah commands “empathy and affection” for people “wrestling with difficulties concerning their sexual identity,” the fact remains that “legitimizing a ‘new family’” requires a distortion and selective application of the Torah’s values, the group notes.

“At the very basis of the Torah of Israel are many values: mercy, freedom of choice, family wholeness, loving one's neighbor, human dignity and sexual restraint,” the statement reads. “All of these must be advanced, but it is unacceptable to pick and choose equality and individual liberty as the sole values of significance.

“We are disturbed by the prevalent atmosphere of suppressing any voice expressing loyalty to tradition,” they add.

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Stressing that the family has “preserved [Israel’s] national integrity through the ages,” the group concludes that only “rely[ing] upon received Jewish Law” can “provide a complete answer [to modern challenges] without giving up on the eternal values of the Torah of Israel.”

The statement was motivated in part as a response to “gay pride” parades that took place in Israeli cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this summer, drawing international attention.

Israel has a variety of pro-LGBT policies in effect, including “anti-discrimination” provisions, open military service, same-sex adoption, and recognition of same-sex “marriages” performed aborad (Israel does not perform any civil marriages domestically). LGBT activists recently took to the streets to protest the passage of legislation disqualifying homosexual couples from surrogacy, however.

“What is remarkable is that [the 75 women], like the 200 rabbis, are not part of any group, they all joined together to sign this statement,” Menken told LifeSiteNews, referencing a coalition of rabbis that spoke out against LGBT activists last month. “The gay activists seem to have set off a firestorm, and now there is a sincere pushback coming from the traditional community, which is unwilling to sacrifice children on the altar of political correctness.

“If the data clearly shows that children raised outside traditional families are more likely to grow up into troubled adults, it is morally wrong to deliberately place children outside traditional families,” Menken continued. “And that's all we are saying.”

Below is an English translation of the group’s full statement:

We, Rebbetzins, educators and Torah lecturers feel a Torah-based, moral, and educational responsibility to express our clear and unequivocal opinion regarding concepts which have become controversial as a result of the recent LGBT protests.

The Torah of Israel teaches us clearly and unambiguously what a family is: a covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, who will, with G-d's help, be blessed with children.

This model was established in the beginning of Creation, even prior to the formation of the Jewish People. This is the family, and there is no other.

The Torah of Israel also teaches us how to love our friends and others, and how to relate to other people, [especially] to the orphan, the widow and the stranger.

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It is from within the Torah that we are commanded to love every member of the People of Israel, and to feel empathy and affection, as well, for those wrestling with difficulties concerning their sexual identity.

Nonetheless, even with all of the foregoing, there is no place to gloss over the severe prohibition and distortion involved in legitimizing a "new family."

At the very basis of the Torah of Israel are many values: mercy, freedom of choice, family wholeness, loving one's neighbor, human dignity and sexual restraint.

All of these must be advanced, but it is unacceptable to pick and choose equality and individual liberty as the sole values of significance.

The Jewish family has preserved our national integrity throughout the ages, and it will survive the current upheavals.

We are disturbed by the prevalent atmosphere of suppressing any voice expressing loyalty to tradition.

As women whose lives are dedicated to Torah and education, women who have a sympathetic ear for persons with myriad anxieties, among them those with different affinities, we perceive the obligation to rely upon received Jewish Law.

We believe that in this way, with a clear Torah outlook, it is possible to provide a complete answer [to modern challenges] without giving up on the eternal values of the Torah of Israel.

We pray that the words of the Prophet Zechariah come to pass: "May you love truth and peace."