Hebrew Union College should reverse course, keep historic Cincinnati campus open | Opinion

Martha Sweterlitsch, an attorney representing Hebrew Union College, recently responded to the controversy over the potential sale of rare books from the Klau Library on HUC’s Cincinnati campus by saying that "the actors in Cincinnati" are "stuck in the past" − referring to the outcry over the issue from local Jews and non-Jews alike.

Yes, Ms. Sweterlitsch, you are right. Cincinnati is indeed "stuck in the past" with regard to Hebrew Union College. I would suggest that the very institution you represent should be too.

In 2022, the Board of Governors of the oldest continuously operating rabbinical seminary in the nation − born in Cincinnati in 1875 − voted to cease the training of rabbis at its flagship Cincinnati campus, while promising to sustain the doctoral and master’s degree programs in Jewish studies that are based here. The next year, the announcement came that those too were being discontinued.

However, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s campuses in New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem will remain open to students.

We understand that HUC-JIR needed to implement difficult cost-cutting measures due to declining admissions. What we will never understand is why the board would close the school on its historic campus that is home to the world-renowned Klau Library − with its expansive collections including 14,000 rare books, documents and manuscripts (second only to the Israel Library); and the American Jewish Archives with over 25 million documents that chronicle the history of American Jewry. (It is the largest free-standing archives of its kind in the United States.)

We will never understand why the Board of Governors would shutter the one campus − of the four it operates − where the tradition of educating Reform rabbis began nearly 150 years ago; where its most ancient and iconic primary source materials exist for students, scholars and researchers to see, touch and study; and where, for decades, underserved Jewish communities in the nation’s heartland have been revitalized by student rabbis able to meet their spiritual needs in the middle of the country.

Reckless coastal bias sealed fate of HUC Cincinnati campus

Reckless coastal bias by the college’s Board of Governors sealed the fate of the venerable Cincinnati campus. If the mission of HUC is to provide a peerless educational experience for rabbis who will go out into the world to inspire vibrant, uplifting Jewish life and experience − especially now, in a world rampant with virulent antisemitism − separating students from the galvanizing resources, history and tradition (read: "experience") of rabbinical training in Cincinnati is simply unconscionable.

So you might forgive the upset of these Cincinnati "actors" over the recent visit by Sotheby’s, at the invitation of HUC, to survey and value the worth of some of the rarest books − so, so precious to the entire Jewish world − at the Klau Library. HUC had promised that the Klau Library and the American Jewish Archives would form the nexus of a permanent research center for scholarly study − albeit without a single student enrolled on the campus. Even the thought of deaccessioning some of these worldly treasures to satisfy mounting institutional debt is beyond comprehension.

These rare books and materials can certainly continue to exist untouched, unseen, and ultimately uncelebrated. However, hoping that rabbinic students can be exalted and wholly inspired by mere facsimiles of these treasures is like expecting world explorers to stay home and be thrilled by pictures of the places they’ll never experience for themselves. Only rabbinic students training on the Cincinnati campus would have daily access to these unrivaled primary resources.

Yes, we are stuck in the past … on the living history of our rare books, documents and manuscripts that rest in Cincinnati … on a 150-year tradition of using these treasures to provide an immersive rabbinic education … on the rabbis ordained here who go out into the world so deeply inspired by our past to guide the future of Jewish life. That is why the "actors" in Cincinnati − dedicated men and women who understand the magnitude of the loss to the Jewish world of rabbinic education here − have mobilized to open a new rabbinical school in Cincinnati.

HUC is set to close the rabbinical school in Cincinnati in 2026. In my mind, there remain only two options:

HUC should immediately reverse course and instead close its coastal campuses, which would decrease operating costs and may even resolve institutional debt. Then, they could provide every rabbinical student with the most exceptional education possible on its Cincinnati campus in the heart of the country.

Or, Jewish communities throughout the U.S. should unite in force behind the effort − already well underway − to open a rabbinical school in 2026 in Cincinnati where Reform Judaism was born. Then, the founding vision of the legendary Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise in 1875 to educate rabbis here will continue without interruption − proximate to the coveted resources of the Klau Library and the American Jewish Archives.

Joyce Kamen, former program host, writer and producer at WKRC-TV, served as the marketing and communications contractor for the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati for over 20 years. She is also the Emmy and Telly award-winning writer, director and producer of several documentary films for television including “Because They Were Jews: Cincinnati Survivors of the Holocaust Remember,” which ran in syndication on PBS; and “Cincinnati Reflections,” a three-part documentary series produced for WCET-TV (PBS) about the beloved places of the Queen City’s past. 

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: With HUC closure, Jews should open new rabbinical school in Cincinnati