The New York Police Department’s chief chaplain, Rabbi Alvin Kass, who served in the role for nearly 60 years, died early Wednesday morning, the NYPD announced. He was 89. 

Rabbi Kass, who assumed the role in 1966, held the dual distinction of being both the youngest chaplain and longest-serving chaplain in NYPD history. He was remembered by Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch as a “source of strength, guidance, and faith for generations of police officers and their families.”

“He was among the first to respond after 9/11, consoling the families of the 23 officers we lost that day. And for more than half a century, he stood beside our members through moments of tragedy and triumph alike,” Ms. Tisch said on X. 

In a statement, the NYPD Shomrim Society, a fraternal organization for the department’s Jewish members, remembered Rabbi Kass as the “spiritual heart” of the NYPD.

“He devoted his life to service: leading and uplifting the Shomrim family, comforting the grieving, counseling the troubled, and reminding us all of the higher purpose of our work,” the society said.

Rabbi Kass took pride in being a Jewish member of the NYPD and hoped more Jews would pursue careers as police officers. 

“Jews are pioneers in enforcement,” he told the Jewish Chronicle in 2024. “If you go back to the Bible, chapter 17 book of Deuteronomy, it says, judges and police officers, you shall appoint in your gates already. Our ancestors thousands of years ago appreciated that human nature is such that civilisation can survive only if you’ve got police officers and judges who resolve disputes between people.”

Rabbi Kass also held the unique distinction of ending an hours-long hostage situation with a pastrami sandwich from Carnegie Deli. 

In 1981, Rabbi Kass was called to a Midtown office building, where the NYPD hostage unit needed help convincing a Jewish man to release a woman he was holding at gunpoint.

At first, Rabbi Kass failed to get the gunman to surrender his gun. As the hostage situation dragged into the following morning, the hostage-taker grew hungry. 

An officer brought over two “giant” pastrami sandwiches from Carnegie Deli, which Rabbi Kass, who kept kosher, could not eat. So he made the gunman a deal: drop the gun and he’ll give him the sandwich. The gunman agreed — but while devouring the sandwich, confessed to still having a second gun on him. Rabbi Kass said he would give up a second sandwich in exchange for the gun. 

“So he gave up the second gun, we gave him the sandwich, he was seized and that was the end of the hostage incident,” Rabbi Kass told WNBC New York in 2020. 

In 2001, he rushed to Ground Zero as the September 11 attacks unfolded, offering comfort to members of both the NYPD and FDNY. He spent the ensuing weeks attending the funerals of all 23 NYPD members who were killed in the attacks.

“That really is the essential message of Judaism, in the face of evil. There is a moral law, an objective law that guides the physical phenomena of the universe — it’s a lawful process that governs moral affairs even if we don’t understand it. We have to accept that degree of incomprehensibility and accept in faith what we can’t comprehend,” Rabbi Kass told the Forward in 2021. 

Before joining the NYPD, he served as a U.S. Air Force chaplain for two years

By 1966, Rabbi Kass had already published a book and was regarded as a  “fine swimmer and handball player,” according to a 1967 Daily News  article. It was his ability on the handball court that convinced the NYPD Chief of Detectives, Al Seedman, to give Rabbi Kass the job. 

He was promoted to three-star chief in 2016, making him the highest-ranking chaplain in NYPD history. 

In addition to the NYPD, Rabbi Kass served as the senior rabbi of East Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn, where actor and former host of  the Travel Channel show “Man v. Food,” Adam Richman, was a congregant.

“His  sermons were always passionate and captivating, and he was as knowledgeable about Newyork (sic) sports as he was liturgy and the families of his congregants,” Mr. Richman said on his Instagram account.

“The saddest thing is, he would probably know exactly what to say in this moment to comfort us,” he added.