(CINCINNATI) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing Hebrew Union College to ensure its charitable assets remain dedicated to supporting a permanent rabbinical school in Cincinnati.
“Hebrew Union accepted millions of dollars in donations based on a 76-year-old promise it now would like to break,” Yost said. “We’re suing to keep these assets in Cincinnati where they belong.”
The lawsuit, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, asserts that Hebrew Union violated its founding documents and state law by deciding to shutter its rabbinical school at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Under a 1950 agreement, Hebrew Union is legally required to “permanently maintain” a rabbinical school in Cincinnati. In April 2022, the college’s board voted to delete the requirement from its founding documents and proceed with the closure, a move that Yost argues is a breach of charitable trust.
The filing further alleges that the college has acted improperly by diverting restricted donations intended for the Cincinnati campus to its other locations in New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. Because many of the contributions were made specifically to support the Cincinnati program, Yost maintains that closing the campus and moving the funds violates donor intent and Ohio’s charitable laws.
Yost is asking the court to prohibit the sale of the Cincinnati campus and block the transfer of restricted donations out of state. Additionally, the suit seeks a full accounting of the college’s Ohio-based assets and a court order redirecting them to support a permanent rabbinical campus in Cincinnati.
This is the second time Yost has taken legal action to protect the institution’s charitable assets. In 2024, he sued the college to prevent the sale of rare sacred texts housed at the Klau Library. A settlement reached in October established guardrails to protect the rare-book collection.
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Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127
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