The Reform motion’s central rabbinical seminary filed a movement to dismiss the state of Ohio’s lawsuit in opposition to the college Friday, claiming the go well with violates “foundational Jewish spiritual doctrine.”
It was the most recent escalation in a pitched battle between Hebrew Union School and the state lawyer normal’s workplace, which has accused HUC of violating nonprofit legislation by shuttering degree-granting applications on its historic Cincinnati campus.
The go well with, HUC argues, “violates the First Modification by entangling authorities and faith.”
The go well with was initially filed in April by then-Ohio AG Dave Yost — his second in opposition to the school associated to its controversial plan to wind down its Cincinnati operations in favor of its New York and Los Angeles campuses. Yost claimed HUC’s actions in Cincinnati misled its donors by leaving a metropolis the place they have been actively fundraising to assist operations, and in addition violated its constitution, which states that the college would “completely preserve” a residence there.
The state seeks to grab HUC’s property in Ohio and redirect them to a brand new, yet-to-be-decided nonprofit with an analogous mission; an upstart rabbinical faculty based by HUC alums says it needs them.
Such a transfer “is an unconstitutional and unlawful governmental assault upon faith,” HUC’s strongly worded movement reads.
It continues, “The Legal professional Normal has no function in dictating the spiritual affairs of establishments like HUC. The Court docket ought to reject his overreach into spiritual issues and will dismiss the Grievance as a result of it’s unconstitutional and illegal.”
HUC additionally argues its vote to shutter the Cincinnati campus was carried out in full compliance with the legislation, including that it intends to keep up the campus’s different property, together with the Klau Library, the American Jewish Archives and the Skirball Museum. As well as, citing a passage within the Torah that states “God will come to his individuals wherever they welcome him,” the college argues that contemplating “Jewish demographic realities” is a part of its spiritual mission.
“These selections have been made thoughtfully and responsibly to make sure the long-term success of the establishment and our capacity to proceed graduating sturdy Jewish leaders,” HUC president Andrew Rehfeld mentioned in an announcement accompanying the movement. The lawsuit, he added, “improperly seeks to intrude within the selections of a non secular group, and this can’t be allowed to go unchallenged.”
Yost himself resigned as AG this week to affix the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian authorized group that, in 2022, represented a Tennessee adoption company that refused to foster a baby to a Jewish couple. The go well with in opposition to HUC continues underneath the state AG’s workplace.
Reporting the tales that outline our period. When historical past unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your assist ensures we will doc the complexities of conflict and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
