Rivkin died on October 1, 2011, of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 85 years old. Three memorial services were held: one at Young Israel in St. Louis, in keeping with the tradition that the funeral of the Gadol Ha'ir (the rabbinic leader of the city) take place inside a synagogue; a second at Yeshivah Torah Vodaath in New York, and the third in Jerusalem. Rivkin was buried next to his wife, parents and grandparents at the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem.