Hebrew Seminary

Legal name: Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363821488
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
847.679.4113
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,449,456
Expenses
$829,000
Assets
$2,242,543
Liabilities
$-470

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JONAH RANK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JONAH RANK (PRESIDENT): $52,369 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Hebrew Seminary is a pluralistic, egalitarian rabbinical school that educates people to become rabbis and pararbbis for Jewish and multifaith communities. Our graduates serve as congregational rabbis, spiritual counselors, professors, education directors, activists, Hillel directors, chaplains at universities, hospitals and more. Whether you are just starting out on your career path or you’ve always wanted to guide and inspire others along a Jewish path, Hebrew Seminary is here to guide you and support you along your journey to Jewish leadership. “At Hebrew Seminary, I was taught 'how to learn' from wise and wonderful teachers while I was supported and learned from my dear chevruta (study partner) and classmates. I learned how to access our beloved Rabbinic texts in order to learn from our sages over the centuries. It was a taste of the olam h.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hebrew seminary is a pluralistic, egalitarian rabbinical school that educates people to become rabbis and pararabbis for jewish and multi-faith communities. Hebrew seminary was founded in 1992 to meet the spiritual needs of the jewish deaf and hearing, as well as other underserved communities. Our curriculum is grounded in bible, hebrew and talmud, and incorporates jewish ethics and history. Our online courses attract a diverse student body from across north america. While all required coursework for our programs can be completed online, we also host learning opportunities onsite in chicago. The rabbinic program is a 5-year course of study for full-time students, and the pararabbinic program is a 2-year course of study for full-time students. Our graduates serve as congregational rabbis, spiritual counselors. Professors, education directors, hillel directors and chaplains, at universities, hospitals and more.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 70% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 30.4%; rating input score 30
  • Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $35.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 66.2%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.71; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 30.4% of revenue deployed · 84.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $697K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.