Alvin Kass
Alvin Kass | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | December 23, 1935 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 2025 (aged 89) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Miryom Arnold (m. 1963–2017) |
| Children | 3 |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Position | Chief chaplain |
| Organization | New York City Police Department |
Alvin Kass (December 23, 1935 – October 29, 2025) was an American rabbi. He was the chief chaplain of the New York City Police Department. He joined the department in 1966 at the age of 30, becoming the youngest chaplain in the department's history. He served until his death.[1][2]
Early life
Kass was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on December 23, 1935, to Joseph Kass and Ida (née Abramowitz) Kass; Joseph worked as a furniture salesman. Alvin attended Eastside High School,[3] and was awarded a bachelor's degree at Columbia College, Columbia University in 1957, having studied American history and political science.[4] He had been accepted to Harvard Law School, but left, a few weeks before classes started, to go to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), a Conservative Jewish seminary in New York, after having decided that he would rather "minister to people’s spiritual needs rather than legal ones".[5] He graduated from JTS in 1962 and received his semikhah. He also had a master's degree from Columbia, a PhD from New York University, as well as a D. Div from JTS.[6]
Chaplaincy
Kass was a chaplain for the United States Air Force and became the rabbi of Astoria Center of Israel, a small congregation in Astoria, Queens, New York in 1964. He led the Queens congregation until 1978, when he moved to the East Midwood Jewish Center, one of New York City's largest Conservative Jewish synagogues, in Brooklyn.
In December 1966, four years after he became a rabbi, Kass was appointed a chaplain for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) at the age of 31 by Police Chief Howard R. Leary, to work alongside the department's five Christian chaplains.[7] He was the youngest chaplain in the department's history. He was inspired to work for the city after the election of John Lindsay in 1965. He later discovered that he had been one of more than 30 rabbis interviewed to fill the vacant position of NYPD chaplain,[5] and said that he had gotten the job based on his experience with the Air Force and after telling the NYPD brass that as chaplain he would have to be sure to answer to a higher authority, by which he made clear he meant the "Almighty Commissioner".[6] Chief of Detectives Albert Seedman thought that the fact that the rabbi had brought handball gear with him to the interview showed that he would be a good match for the department.[6]
In 1978, he persuaded a man not to jump from the World Trade Center. He helped negotiate the end to a 1984 hostage crisis in the Diamond District by buying two pastrami sandwiches from the Carnegie Deli that he traded for the gunman's pistol.[8][9] In a 1996 interview, Kass cited his success in getting Sabbath observant NYPD officers the opportunity to take Saturdays off, noting that police officers in Jerusalem don't get the same benefit.[10]
In 2002, he became the chief chaplain of the New York City Police Department.[5][6] On December 16, 2016, the NYPD held a ceremony marking Kass's 50 years of service. He was awarded a third gold star, becoming the first three-star chaplain in the history of New York City.[11] At the time of his death in 2025, Kass was the longest-serving chaplain in NYPD history.[6]
Personal life and death
In 1963, he married Miryom Sue Arnold of St. Paul, Minnesota, who worked as a teacher.[12] Together they had three children.[6] Miryom died in 2017.
Kass died on October 29, 2025, at the age of 89,[1] at a hospital in Manhattan.[6] He was buried at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.[13]
References
- ^ a b "Rabbi Alvin Kass, 89, was longest-serving NYPD chaplain, led East Midwood Jewish Center for 36 years". Brooklyn Eagle. October 31, 2025.
- ^ Bar Tur, Yael (October 31, 2025). "Remembering Alvin Kass, Conscience of the NYPD". City Journal.
- ^ "Youth Forum Hears Food Prices Scored", The New York Times, October 13, 1952. Accessed November 10, 2025. "The other panel members were Howard Schuman, 15, of the George Washington High School; Alvin Kass, 16, of Eastside High School, Paterson, N. J.; Peggy Anderson, 17, of Flushing High School in Queens, and Romilda Romano, 15, of St. Francis Xavier Academy, Brooklyn."
- ^ "Kass Elected To Columbia's Phi Beta Kappa", The Morning Call, December 1, 1956. Accessed November 10, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Alvin Kass, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kass of 455 East Thirteeth St., has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the national scholastic honor society, at Columbia College, the men's undergraduate liberal arts school of Columbia University in the City of New York.... The new key holder is a graduate of Eastside High School."
- ^ a b c "Alvin Kass '57 Tends to Spiritual Needs of NYC's Finest". Columbia College Today.
- ^ a b c d e f g Roberts, Sam (November 1, 2025). "Rabbi Alvin Kass, N.Y.P.D. Chaplain for Nearly Six Decades, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Queens Rabbi Named A Police Chaplain", The New York Times, December 17, 1966. Accessed November 10, 2025. "Rabbi Alvin Kass, 31-year-old leader of an Astoria, Queens, synagogue, was made a chaplain of the Police Department yesterday.... The appointment by Commissioner Howard R. Leary fills a vacancy created by the recent death of Chaplain Isidore Frank. There are five other chaplains in the department—three Protestants and two Catholics."
- ^ Feldman, Ari. "5 Must-Know Facts About New York Police Rabbi Alvin Kass", The Forward, June 21, 2016. Accessed November 10, 2025. "In 1981, Kass successfully negotiated with a purportedly Jewish man who had taken a woman hostage. In exchange for the hostage-taker's guns, Kass traded two (count 'em) pastrami sandwiches from the Carnegie Deli."
- ^ via United Press International. "Gunman trades for Pastrami", The Herald, June 6, 1984. Accessed November 10, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "A jilted lover Tuesday traded his pistol for a pastrami sandwich and two hours later surrendered a shotgun and his ex-girlfriend, ending a 16-hour hostage standoff at a jewelry shop in Manhattan's Diamond District.... Stachowitz also talked for hours with police Rabbi Alvin Kass before surrendering."
- ^ Lipsyte, Robert. "Some Days, the Rabbi Wears Blue", The New York Times, September 15, 1996. Accessed November 10, 2025. "Did you know one of his greatest accomplishments was getting Jewish officers time off to observe the Sabbath, which cops in Jerusalem don't get?"
- ^ Schachter, Abby W. (December 22, 2016). "NYPD's Chief Rabbi Honored for 50 Years of Service". Tablet.
- ^ "Miryom Sue Arnold to Wed Rabbi Alvin Kass", The News, April 30, 1963. Accessed November 10, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Mr. and Mrs. Ben Arnold of St. Paul, have announced the engagement their daughter, Miryom Sue, to 1st Lt. Alvin Kass, USAF, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kass of 30th St., Paterson, N.J. Miss Arnold is a senior at the Teachers' Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University, both in New York City."
- ^ Saphirstein, Shabsie. "A Life Of Faith And Service: Rabbi Dr. Alvin Kass", Queens Jewish Link, November 5, 2025. Accessed November 10, 2025. "Rabbi Dr. Alvin Kass, interred beside his beloved wife at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, is survived by his children, grandchildren, extended family, and the many officers and New Yorkers whose lives he inspired."