The College for Contemporary Judaism Seeks to Intervene in Ohio Attorney General’s Lawsuit Against Hebrew Union College

For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Nathan Miller
nathan@miller-ink.com
More Info: www.ccjudaism.org

The College for Contemporary Judaism Seeks to Intervene in Ohio Attorney General's Lawsuit Against Hebrew Union College

New Rabbinical Seminary Seeks to Be Recipient of HUC’s Cincinnati-Related Assets, Ensuring They Remain Dedicated to Training the Next Generation of American Rabbis in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, OH — May 28, 2026 — The College for Contemporary Judaism (CCJ) today filed a Motion for Limited Intervention in the lawsuit brought by the Ohio Attorney General against Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). In its filing, CCJ asks the court to recognize it as the appropriate recipient of HUC's Cincinnati-related charitable assets in order to achieve both CCJ and the Attorney General's shared goal – that a rabbinical school will continue to operate in Cincinnati.

"The Attorney General's lawsuit makes clear what we have always believed: that the assets entrusted to Hebrew Union College were given for a sacred and specific purpose — to educate rabbis in Cincinnati,” said Rabbi Dr. Gary P. Zola, CCJ’s Founding President. “We are building CCJ to fulfill exactly that purpose. We are proud to stand alongside the Ohio Attorney General in asking the court to ensure those assets are protected and put to their intended use."      

CCJ's intervention is limited in scope and supplemental in purpose. The institution supports the Attorney General's efforts in establishing HUC's liability and does not seek to duplicate them. Instead, CCJ is intervening to answer the question the AG's lawsuit raises but cannot itself resolve; Once HUC's liability is established and its assets aresecured by the court, what is the ultimate remedy and who will ensure they are used for their intended charitable purpose?

Today’s filing asks the court to:

• Recognize CCJ as the appropriate recipient of HUC's Cincinnati-related charitable assets — including the historic Clifton Avenue campus (3101 Clifton Avenue), the Klau Library, the American Jewish Archives, the Skirball Museum, and many millions of dollars in marketable securities and investments.

• Apply Ohio's cy pres doctrine (R.C. 5804.13) to ensure those assets remain dedicated to permanently maintaining a rabbinical school in the liberal spirit in Cincinnati.

Click here to read the Motion for Limited Intervention.

On April 10, 2026, the Ohio Attorney General sued HUC-JIR in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, alleging that HUC-JIR violated its 1950 Consolidation Agreement by ending operations of its Cincinnati rabbinical school despite a commitment to “permanently maintain” such a school in Cincinnati.

CCJ argues that no other existing party is positioned to address the remedial question before the court. Although the Attorney General seeks preservation and redistribution of assets to support a permanent Cincinnati rabbinical school, the Attorney General cannot itself operate such an institution. CCJ’s charter expressly commits it to “permanently maintain a rabbinical school in Cincinnati, Ohio.”

“The Attorney General is working to protect assets intended to support rabbinical education in Cincinnati,” said Andrew Berger, CCJ’s Founding Board Chair. “CCJ exists to fulfill that mission.”

CCJ's Founding President Rabbi Dr. Gary P. Zola served for decades as a distinguished professor of American Jewish history and Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives at HUC's Cincinnati campus.  Dr. Zola retired from HUC when HUC decided to close the rabbinical and graduate schools in Cincinnati. Several members of CCJ's founding board are former HUC Governors who voted against the closure and subsequently resigned when the vote passed. Others include donors whose gifts to HUC are directly at issue in this litigation.

Hebrew Union College was founded in Cincinnati in 1875, becoming the first permanent rabbinical seminary in North America. When HUC merged with the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1950, its Articles of Incorporation were amended to require that the institution "permanently maintain" a rabbinical school in Cincinnati. In 2022, HUC's board voted to delete that language — and to close the Cincinnati campus at the end of the 2025–26 academic year.

CCJ was founded that same year, in direct response. On May 9, 2026, HUC ordained its last students, thereby closing its Cincinnati rabbinical school.  As a result, there are now no non-Orthodox rabbinical schools between the coasts. The Midwest, South, and Mountain West — home to hundreds of Jewish congregations — will face an acute and worsening shortage of trained rabbinical leaders.   

About CCJ: The College for Contemporary Judaism (CCJ) is building a new model of rabbinic education to address the critical shortage of congregational rabbis across the American heartland. Based in Cincinnati — the historic cradle of American Reform Judaism — CCJ will offer full scholarships and living stipends, a modular curriculum, professional fellowships, and access to world-class Judaica resources. For more information, visit www.ccjudaism.org.      

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