By: Fern Sidman

The New York Police Department lost one of its most enduring symbols of compassion and moral strength with the passing of Rabbi Alvin Kass, its longest-serving chaplain and one of the city’s most beloved figures. He died overnight at the age of 88, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy that bridged faith, public service, and humanity.

For nearly six decades, Rabbi Kass was more than a chaplain — he was, as VIN News poignantly described in a report on Wednesday, “the soul of the NYPD.” He comforted officers in moments of unimaginable grief, counseled those wrestling with moral and emotional burdens, and served as a steady voice of conscience through eras of crisis and change. From the Vietnam era and the fiscal turmoil of the 1970s to 9/11 and beyond, Rabbi Kass was a constant — a spiritual first responder to a city that often seemed in perpetual motion.

Born in Brooklyn and educated in New York’s finest institutions, Rabbi Kass’s path to the NYPD began almost by accident. As the VIN News report recalled, he was only 30 when he joined the force in 1966, becoming the youngest chaplain in department history. The opportunity arose suddenly when the previous Jewish chaplain passed away. Kass initially demurred, explaining that his schedule was full. But his mentor, Rabbi Harold Gordon, urged him to go.

When Kass appeared for his interview with department brass, he was carrying a handball bag — intending to leave directly for a game afterward. The department’s legendary chief of detectives, Al Seedman, later said that moment sealed the decision. “I thought,” Seedman told The New York Times, “a rabbi who plays handball would be a good match for the NYPD.”

That informal charm, combined with his sharp intellect and natural empathy, made Rabbi Kass an immediate fit for the city’s rank and file. Over the ensuing 57 years, he became a fixture at police precincts, community events, and countless funerals, where his quiet eloquence and moral authority earned him universal respect.

As VIN News reported, Rabbi Kass brought an exceptional intellectual pedigree to his ministry. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, a graduate of Columbia University, and held rabbinic ordination and a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also earned a Ph.D. from New York University and spent decades teaching philosophy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Yet despite these scholarly credentials, he remained a man of deep humility. “For a long time I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he once reflected. “I was even admitted to Harvard Law School. But two weeks before the term began, I realized I wanted to become a rabbi. I felt I would get more inner satisfaction from helping people spiritually than from practicing law.”

That choice, he would later say, shaped every day of his career. “There ought to be no conflict between your job and your love of your faith,” Rabbi Kass told VIN News in a previous interview. “Your job ought to give you an opportunity to live your faith. Being the best kind of police chaplain is also being the best kind of Jew.”

He embodied that conviction daily — walking precinct halls, visiting hospital bedsides, comforting families after line-of-duty deaths, and advising the department’s leadership on matters of ethics and interfaith understanding.

To generations of police officers, Rabbi Kass was not just a chaplain but a moral compass. He taught ethics at the Police Academy, shaping recruits’ understanding of integrity and public service. As the VIN News report noted, he had an uncanny ability to connect lofty moral principles with the gritty realities of police work.

“My job is to serve police officers,” he often said. “The heart of what we do is counsel officers who have problems.”

He also served as the department’s advisor on Jewish affairs, ensuring that its Jewish members could fulfill both their professional and religious obligations. During the Koch administration, he helped establish policies allowing observant Jews to observe Shabbat and holidays without sacrificing their positions — a breakthrough that opened the doors for countless others.

“Today,” he said with characteristic pride, “religious Jews are able to join the police department without violating the Sabbath.”

But his empathy transcended faith lines. He championed similar accommodations for Seventh-day Adventists, telling VIN News that “just as religious Jews shouldn’t have to work on the Sabbath, neither should anyone whose faith requires that day of rest.”

When the September 11 attacks plunged New York into chaos and mourning, Rabbi Kass was among the first to respond. The VIN News report recalled that he was at Ground Zero within hours, comforting the families of the 23 NYPD officers killed that day. His voice — calm, compassionate, and unwavering — became a source of solace for those who had lost everything.

In the weeks that followed, he led High Holiday services for recovery workers stationed at LaGuardia Airport, transforming a sterile terminal into a makeshift synagogue of grief and hope. Those who attended remember his message vividly: “Even in the face of evil,” he said, “we are not permitted to despair.”

For his decades of service, Rabbi Kass received numerous honors, culminating this past April with New York University’s Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service. The recognition celebrated his lifetime of devotion to faith, civic duty, and moral leadership — qualities that defined his every day in uniform.

Throughout his long career, Rabbi Kass cultivated close relationships with chaplains of all faiths — Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and others. Interfaith cooperation was not a slogan for him but a practice. Whether attending police graduations, community vigils, or Hanukkah lightings at precinct houses, he treated every encounter as an opportunity to strengthen the human bonds that hold the city together.

His benedictions at police ceremonies were legendary for their grace and universality. In his signature invocation — delivered at thousands of events — he would pray that New York remain “a place where people of every race, religion, color, and creed can pursue their individual destinies untrammeled, unafraid, and in obedience to Thy will.”

That vision, the VIN News report observed, reflected his belief that the NYPD was more than a law enforcement body — it was a microcosm of New York itself, representing every faith and culture under one banner of service.

Though deeply devoted to his calling, Rabbi Kass was no austere cleric. He was a lifelong Yankees fan, a regular jogger and swimmer, and a man who enjoyed a good laugh. “He had a sense of humor that disarmed even the toughest cops,” one officer told VIN News. “He could quote Scripture and tell a joke in the same breath.”

He was married for 54 years to Miryom Kass, his partner in faith and life, who passed away in 2017. Together, they raised three children and created a home filled with love, study, and generosity — the same qualities he brought to his public service.

Those who knew him best say his humility was his greatest virtue. “He never saw himself as important,” said one retired NYPD officer quoted by VIN News. “He just saw himself as someone lucky enough to help people.”

In his final years, Rabbi Kass reflected often on the blessing of his long tenure. “I think I’ve had a very blessed life,” he said not long before his passing. “Every day has been just as exciting as the first day. I’m very thankful to God to have had the opportunity to do it.”

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in a statement to VIN News, called his death “an immeasurable loss” to the department and the city. “Rabbi Kass’s wisdom, kindness, and unwavering moral clarity have guided generations of officers and their families. His example will endure as long as this department stands.”

Indeed, his legacy is written not only in awards or speeches, but in the quiet acts of comfort that defined his work — the hand on a grieving officer’s shoulder, the midnight phone call answered without hesitation, the prayer whispered at the scene of tragedy.

As the VIN News report movingly put it, “Rabbi Kass was not just a chaplain — he was the conscience of the NYPD, reminding everyone who wore the badge that faith and duty are not opposing forces, but reflections of the same divine calling.”

In his decades of service, Rabbi Kass officiated at countless ceremonies, weddings, and funerals, always closing with a blessing of peace. Today, his own words serve as a fitting farewell to the man who personified them: “May New York remain a place where people of every race, religion, color, and creed can pursue their destinies untrammeled, unafraid, and in obedience to God’s will.”

As the NYPD mourns its most faithful servant, those words echo across precincts and synagogues, from Midtown to Midwood. Rabbi Alvin Kass — scholar, soldier, rabbi, and friend — will be remembered not only for his longevity but for the spirit of compassion and courage he gave to a city forever in need of both.