An ambulance used by Hatzalah in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Hatzalah emergency-response organization and the Jewish community of New York were plunged into mourning after Shabbat on Saturday when the medical director of the life-saving group’s New York branch was killed after being hit by a car.

Dr. Richie (Tzvi Nochum) Friedman was walking home from his synagogue in Lawrence, NY, when he was hit by a motor vehicle while crossing a street. He was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest, but pronounced dead soon upon arriving.

Friedman, 56, was a prominent member of his community and the medical director of Hatzalah in New York City; Monsey, NY; and the Catskill Mountains. He was one of the founding members of Hatzalah of the West Side more than 30 years ago, and also served as an East Side Hatzalah member prior to moving to Lawrence.

His funeral was scheduled for Sunday morning at the Bobover Beis Midrash in the Boro Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, continuing on to Yeshivat Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway.