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Editors’ Pick

October 30, 2025

New York Loses Its Longest-Serving, and Jewish, Police Chaplain

Rabbi Alvin Kass, in memoriam.

On Wednesday, Rabbi Alvin Kass, the longest-serving chaplain in the New York Police Department, died at the age of eighty-nine. A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Kass served as a chaplain in the Air Force and as a congregational rabbi before joining the NYPD. He was known among his colleagues for an incident where he diffused a hostage crisis with two pastrami sandwiches. Philissa Cramer writes:

SaveGift

October 30, 2025

  1. Why Qatar Needs Iran

    The wealthy emirate enjoys having a neighbor that’s poor, dysfunctional, and dangerous.

  2. Israel between Victory and Isolation

    The case for cautious optimism.

  3. Celebrating the Catholic Embrace of the Jews

    Sixty years of Nostra Aetate.

  4. Bringing Rare Jewish Manuscripts to the Public

    The Nuremberg Mahzor.

  5. A Bible-Era Egyptian Fortress Discovered in the Sinai

    Guarding the Canaanite frontier.