JTA — Days after Hebrew Union College graduated its final rabbinical class in Cincinnati, a new Jewish seminary has its eyes on the school’s campus — and wants the state of Ohio to bestow the prize on them.

The College for Contemporary Judaism, which aims to become a new home for liberal rabbinical students in the Midwest, on Thursday added its voice to a lawsuit against HUC brought by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The state’s suit claims that HUC, the Reform rabbinical school, violated state nonprofit law and misled its donors by shuttering its historic Cincinnati campus this year.

In its motion to intervene, the new college argues that it should be the rightful steward of HUC’s campus, as well as all other Cincinnati assets of the Reform movement mainstay. They include the Klau Library, the American Jewish Archives, the Skirball Museum and hundreds of millions of dollars given by donors who believed HUC would “permanently” remain in the city.

“The Attorney General has appropriately stepped forward to enforce the charitable trust obligations that bind those assets to the State of Ohio and their underlying charitable mission,” CCJ argues in its brief.

Now, the new college argued, the court “has before it a concrete, mission-aligned Ohio candidate capable of carrying forward the very charitable purpose at issue,” referring to CCJ.

A representative for HUC said the school “is responding to the Ohio attorney general’s unwarranted lawsuit and will respond appropriately to any additional filings.” A representative for Yost declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

HUC has previously criticized the state’s lawsuit against it and is fighting to retain its assets. The school’s president, Andrew Rehfeld, has said the allegations “mischaracterize our decision-making, misrepresent our stewardship of donor funds and ignore our sustained record of transparency and good faith.”

The College for Contemporary Judaism’s request is unusual for an institution that, for now, exists in name only. The CCJ, formally........

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