Rabbi Alvin Kass dies, 89, longest-serving NYPD chaplain

EAST MIDWOOD AND CITYWIDE — RABBI ALVIN KASS, WHO SERVED AS THE EAST MIDWOOD JEWISH CENTER’S SPIRITUAL LEADER FOR OVER THREE DECADES, DIED EARLY WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29, according to several sources. He was 89.

The East Midwood Jewish Center, in a statement released Wednesday, recalled, “In his 36 years at the helm of the East Midwood Jewish Center, Rabbi Kass led the synagogue through some of its most challenging times. He touched the lives of countless congregants, shepherding them through times of joy and times of sadness. In his 60 years with the NYPD, his impact on the police force and on New York City was immeasurable. As the first Jewish Chief Chaplain of the NYPD, this impact was felt deeply in the Jewish community as well.”

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, recalled in a statement that when he joined the NYPD, he was the youngest chaplain at age 30.

The Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative honored Rabbi Kass in 2018 as part of its annual Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame cohort. At the time, Rabbi Kass was already the longest-serving NYPD chaplain. He said at the time, “The greatest pleasure of a rabbi—and the word rabbi means teacher—is to see your offspring achieve great things.”

Rabbi Kass was quoted in a 2014 Brooklyn Eagle article on his being honored at the synagogue’s Dinner Dance, as recalling that the World Trade Center terrorist attack on 9/11 was unquestionably the “greatest challenge” that he has ever faced in his career.

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