Rabbi Harry Berkowitz is sent to soothe shaky subway operators who witness death

[Harry]

 

When there's trouble on the tracks, transit workers turn to police, firefighters, paramedics — and The Rabbi. There’s no need for his full name. Anyone who has operated a train, welded rails or directed traffic from a radio tower in the last three decades probably knows Rabbi Harry Berkowitz. The 65-year-old has been a subway chaplain for 34 years. He started ministering to the men and women of the transit police force, whose trust he earned by spending midnight shifts going on patrol with them in stations and on trains.

Read more: NYDailyNews

[RTOMan]

Yes i had the unfortunate Pleasure of meeting him...

[Dan05979]

What does he do when he gets there, whats his job exactly?

[BrooklynBus]

He does a lot more than what is mentioned in the article. He attends nearly every funeral for transit employees and their relatives, sometimes several in one day as well as pays numerous hospital calls. . He even visited my sister in the nursing home twice. And the NY Post (or it could have also been the News, I'm not sure now) ran a story a number of years ago how this is a waste of funds. How untrue! Whoever wrote that story does not grasp the impact of these horrible situations for these employees and how necessary his work is. At least Pete Donohue does.

[QM1to6Ave]

He does a lot more than what is mentioned in the article. He attends nearly every funeral for transit employees and their relatives, sometimes several in one day as well as pays numerous hospital calls. . He even visited my sister in the nursing home twice. And the NY Post (or it could have also been the News, I'm not sure now) ran a story a number of years ago how this is a waste of funds. How untrue! Whoever wrote that story does not grasp the impact of these horrible situations for these employees and how necessary his work is. At least Pete Donohue does.

 

I was just thinking about that article! I came across it a while ago, and couldn't believe how stupid it was. The pays Rabbi Berkowitz $60,000 a year according to that article, which is less than a lot of other employees, and he is on call 24/7. 

 

I have great respect for chaplains of any faith. They do really great work with people of all faiths who need someone to talk to. 

[Cloudy1950]

I've known the Rabbi for many years and can say without hesitation he's as decent a person as one could ever meet!