By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
On Tuesday morning, NYPD Chief Chaplain Rabbi Alvin Kass was mugged in the Upper West Side. As reported by the NY Post, Kass was on his morning walk when he was attacked at approximately 5:45 a.m. by West 107th Street and Riverside Drive. Police said the suspect demanded money saying that he was hungry. He rummaged through Kass’ pockets and seized his wallet. Seeing the police shield, however, the attacker dropped the wallet on the ground and the fled empty handed. The 84-year-old rabbi fell and hurt his shoulder during the struggle, police sources said. Kass refused medical attention at the scene. No arrests have been made.
Kass is the longest-serving member of the NYPD, having served as top chaplain for 54 years. Kass was also mugged four years ago, on the Upper West Side while walking on Riverside Drive between West 83rd and West 84th streets. He had suffered minor injuries at the time.
The slender, friendly rabbi, who was originally from Patterson, N.J., and had served in the U.S. Air Force. A graduate of Columbia University, New York University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, Kass moved to New York with his wife Miriam, taking on a small congregation in Astoria, Queens. He was 30-years old in 1966 when he was called to take the job as the NYPD’s only rabbi. In an interview two years ago, he expressed his shock at being offered the position. “It’s the most unlikely of events that could have happened,” Rabbi Kass told Fox News. “I never knew a policeman. I was never in a police station. I had no ambitions to be a police chaplain. I did start my career off as an Air Force chaplain.”
As per Fox, Kass has previously said that New York would be nothing without New York’s finest. He noted that the book of Deuteronomy marks the importance of having officers to enforce and uphold the law. “We need people who will take care of us and undergo the risks that are involved in protecting humanity. So keeping people safe and secure is dangerous. It’s difficult. It’s filled with stress and to serve such people is a great privilege,” said Kass. Being the longest serving chaplain in the department’s history, Kass has also said that religion has never been a barrier for him with his brothers in blue.
