A Lakewood event space is being used to hold socially distant wedding ceremonies amid the coronavirus outbreak, the mayor and religious officials said Monday, though state and county officials say the venue was not approved to re-open.

Lakewood Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg said the arrangement to have small ceremonies at Ateres Reva, a catering hall attached to a school on Summer Avenue, was made in consultation with municipal officials and police.

“The Lakewood police department conferred with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to make sure there were no problems with this,” Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles said. He said he was not involved in the discussions, but spoke with police officials Monday “The purpose is to make sure any events that happen are done in accordance with all of the governor’s guidelines.”

However, Lakewood police did not respond to requests for comment. The county prosecutor said his office didn’t sanction any specific venue to re-open against Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive orders, but said socially distant wedding ceremonies are acceptable.

“Wedding venues are non-essential. So to be clear, no wedding venues have been authorized by my office,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in an email. “A marriage ceremony itself is not an issue, as long as it comports with the requirements of all of the (executive orders) and (administrative orders). Less than 10 people total, social distancing and wearing masks.”

Coles said that’s how the ceremonies will be held. Only the officiant, bride and groom, parents and a photographer will be allowed inside, and police will supervise the event to enforce those rules, he said.

Each person must wear gloves and a mask, except for the bride and groom. Afterward, the room will be disinfected for the next ceremony, Coles said.

“Allowing some immediate family to come together to celebrate could be a good thing providing it’s well-maintained, it’s overseen and we make sure all of the guidelines to keep people safe are kept in place,” Coles said.

He said the precautions are similar to funeral attendance limits meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

During the Orthodox period of Omer, a 50-day period of mourning that begins on the second day of Passover, there are only a handful of days in which weddings are allowed. So religious leaders in Lakewood began discussing with local law enforcement ways to allow ceremonies on select days to deal with a backlog of postponed weddings, Weisberg said.

The ceremonies will be two hours long, Weisberg said, shorter than the usual six-hour weddings. Afterward, people can drive in through the parking lot and give congratulations to the bride and groom as they stand feet away stand in the doorway of the building.

“The dangers (of COVID-19) are very, very real and they loom very, very heavily, so we were struggling with our own leadership groups and the authorities... to try to do what we can to try to balance these. We’d like to err on the side of caution,” said Weisbeg. “Everything that came out of this was very measured and thought through.”

At least five rabbis have died after contracting the coronavirus.

The pandemic has disrupted the daily life of Lakewood’s Orthodox community, where ceremonies and rituals play a big part in religion. Two-thirds of the township’s 100,000 residents are Orthodox.

And while all yeshivas and synagogues, at which people gather to pray three times a day, are closed, halting weddings has been more challenging. In the Orthodox religion, delaying marriages is frowned upon, community leaders have said.

Police have broken up multiple events in Lakewood and charged more than two dozen people for defying Murphy’s ban on large gatherings over the past month.

Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein said the new plan is a good compromise, allowing residents to celebrate while also practicing social distancing and abiding by the governor’s executive orders.

"If the religious ceremony can take place and follow all the proper guidelines I think it is a good thing as it allows people to safely (and) legally practice their beliefs,” Lichtenstein said.

New Jersey Attorney General’s spokesman Leland Moore said the state has not reviewed or approved "any plans with respect to weddings at catering halls or elsewhere in New Jersey.”

“The Governor’s Executive Orders and related Administrative Orders concerning gatherings and social distancing remain in full effect and are the most effective tools we have to protect the health of New Jerseyans during this pandemic. As Attorney General Grewal and Colonel Callahan make clear every day in their daily enforcement updates, New Jersey law enforcement will hold those who flout these orders accountable,” Moore said.

A secretary for Ateres Reva who answered the phone Monday said the catering hall is being used as a space for small ceremonies, but the company is not involved in the organizing of ceremonies and is not charging couples.

As of Monday, there were 4,648 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ocean County and 217 deaths, according to state officials.

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