New Developments in Lawsuit Over HUC’s Cincinnati Assets
CINCINNATI — The College for Contemporary Judaism (CCJ) can now participate in the legal dispute over the future of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion’s (HUC) Cincinnati assets, following an Oct. 5 ruling by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Wagner.
The ruling allows CCJ to argue that it should receive assets to support a permanent rabbinical school in Cincinnati if the Ohio attorney general’s lawsuit succeeds. It also permits the college to participate in mediation. The order does not award CCJ any assets or determine whether HUC violated its charitable obligations.
The dispute concerns an institution with more than 150 years of history in Cincinnati. Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise founded Hebrew Union College in 1875 to train rabbis for American Jewish congregations. It became a central institution of Reform Judaism and, in 1950, consolidated with New York’s Jewish Institute of Religion. Its Cincinnati campus houses the Klau Library, the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives and the Skirball Museum.
The Klau Library’s collections include approximately 530,000 printed books, 2,500 manuscript codices and 14,000 books in its rare book room, according to HUC. Its holdings span biblical studies, Jewish history, rabbinic literature and other fields, serving researchers beyond the college’s own students and faculty.
HUC’s board voted in 2022 to end the Cincinnati rabbinical program, citing declining enrollment and financial pressures. The final Cincinnati in-person rabbinical class graduated in May 2026. HUC has said it maintains a significant presence in the city despite ending the program.
The attorney general’s lawsuit, filed April 10, challenges whether HUC can redirect assets associated with its Cincinnati mission. The state alleges that HUC violated obligations under its 1950 consolidation agreement, which required it to maintain a permanent rabbinical school in Cincinnati, and improperly diverted restricted donations to other campuses. HUC’s board removed the permanent-school requirement from its governing documents in 2022.
CCJ was founded that same year by rabbis and community members seeking to maintain a liberal rabbinical school in Cincinnati, according to the court’s order. Its founding president, Rabbi Dr. Gary P. Zola, previously served as a professor and administrator at HUC.
Zola has endorsed the state’s objectives: preventing the campus’s sale while its charitable obligations remain unresolved, protecting restricted donations from improper transfers out of Ohio, obtaining an accounting of Ohio-based assets and directing qualifying assets toward a permanent Cincinnati rabbinical school.
“The State is appealing to the court to ensure that the assets covered by its claims continue to serve a Cincinnati rabbinical-school purpose rather than being transferred for use elsewhere,” Zola wrote.
HUC disputes the lawsuit. In seeking dismissal, it argued that its governing documents permitted the 2022 amendment and that the state’s demands interfere with its religious autonomy under the First Amendment.
Both HUC and the attorney general’s office opposed CCJ’s request to intervene. The judge nevertheless found that CCJ’s interest in operating a Cincinnati rabbinical school was distinct from the interests represented by either party. Wagner limited CCJ’s participation to potential remedies and mediation, excluding it from litigating whether HUC is liable. He also emphasized that the ruling does not guarantee CCJ will receive funds or signal how he will decide HUC’s constitutional arguments.
According to the Oct. 5 order, a decision on HUC’s motion to dismiss is scheduled for Oct. 30.
