Australia’s peak Jewish body and many synagogues have rejected a statement by the Rabbinical Council of Victoria urging people to vote no in the same-sex marriage postal survey.

In statement released on 4 September, the Rabbinical Council urged a no vote on the basis the Torah “clearly upholds traditional heterosexual marriage as the ideal family unit”.

“We are concerned regarding the impact that a change in the definition of marriage will have upon the strength of this fundamental societal building block,” it said.

The statement also cited concerns over the “long-term impact” that legalising same-sex marriage would have on “education systems and religious freedom”.

Last Thursday, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry president, Anton Block, responded that the statement was issued “without proper thought or understanding of the way Australia’s constitution and legal system work”.

“There is no basis for believing that a change to the civil law definition of marriage would be a potential threat to the rights and freedoms of religious institutions and leaders to conduct religious marriages or to affirm religious teachings about marriage,” he said.

“Religious marriages are outside the scope of the Marriage Act, which relates only to civil marriages. It is alarmist to suggest otherwise, and wrong for the RCV to use its authority in religious matters in this way.”

The president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and at least six other rabbis who are members of the council have since dissociated themselves from the statement, although it has not been withdrawn.

The president, Rabbi Daniel Rabin, who was reportedly outvoted by other council members, said the council “should not have told people how to vote and refrained from making a divisive statement”.

“The statement has caused immense anger and pain and has alienated many who already feel isolated within the community,” he said.

“I deeply regret the hurt that has been caused and as president of the organisation I sincerely apologise for this.”

Other rabbis and synagogues that rejected the statement included Beit Aharon Synagogue, Rabbi Shamir Caplan, Rabbi Shmuel Karnowsky, the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation and Shira Hadasha, Melbourne.

In late 2016, the Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand made a submission to a Senate inquiry that it “supports traditional marriage based on the universal Jewish teaching ... that marriage can only be between a man and a woman”. However, the council has not issued a statement encouraging Australians to vote no in the postal survey.

Guardian Australia understands that the president of the Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand, Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, made a statement in his personal capacity on Facebook that the Victorian council had gone too far by instructing Australians how to vote.

On Friday, the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia issued a statement in support of marriage equality. “Based on the human right to equality, we believe that civil marriage under the Marriage Act should be available to all people, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious affiliations and beliefs,” it said.

It echoed the Executive Council of Australian Jewry that amending the definition of marriage in Australian civil law would not affect religious freedoms for those who believed in the traditional definition of marriage.

The Turnbull government has been engaged in infighting over religious freedom – moderates including George Brandis, Christopher Pyne and Simon Birmingham say the survey concerns only marriage, while conservatives including Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Zed Seselja and Matthew Canavan believe religious freedom is at stake.

On Saturday evening, the Coalition for Marriage will formally launch its campaign in Sydney. Speakers include Canavan, Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi, Liberal MP Lucy Wicks and the Australian Christian Lobby director, Lyle Shelton.