The Pesach Yom Tov brought poignant news to the Satmar community: Rabbi Morton Friedman has passed away.

Hundreds of mourners joined the Friedman family to pay their final respects and display their abiding affection at the Levaya on Saturday night, March 27, 2010.

Individuals from every walk of life, including elected officials, NYPD officers, New York State Police officers, and Department of Homeland Security officials, demonstrated their reverence and their sorrow.

Eminent Kiryas Joel, New York resident Rabbi Morton Friedman has departed this life at the age of 56. Renowned within the community and in the New York metropolitan area for his proactive, noble, and selfless deeds of kindness and generosity (chesed), Rabbi Friedman is celebrated for his chaplaincy positions in the law enforcement field with both the Sheriffs Office of Orange County and the New York State Troopers PBA and his chaplaincy positions in the healthcare domain at the Upstate Regional Medical Center and Arden Hill Hospital (where he installed the Bikur Cholim Room to accommodate Orthodox families).

Rabbi Friedmans compassion is reflected in his inaugural and long-running membership in Hatzolah, responding to thousands of calls and saving many lives since volunteering in 1984. His sensitivity is signaled in his Chaplaincy role in law enforcement, where he was a spiritual advisor who provided guidance and a community liaison who imparted insight. His empathy is highlighted by his healthcare chaplaincy, during which he was a patient advocate and family counselor.

Born in New York City on March 23, 1953, Rabbi Friedman grew up and was married in Brooklyn and moved upstate in 1976 at the request of the Grand Satmar Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum.  It was in the environs of Monroe, New York that Rabbi Friedman had his most pronounced influence, for many years delivering food to the poor, assisting the sick, and aiding numerous charities, and his organization and maintenance of special accommodations for Orthodox travelers at the Sloatsburg rest area on the New York State Thruway was one supreme achievement in a luminous existence.

This is a time of grief for the family and for the community. However, Rabbi Friedman touched thousands of lives in an affirmative manner; the family is hearing for the first time numerous accolades from recipients of his beneficence.  The outpouring of support both in person and in letters (the family received more than five hundred cards within the initial 48 hours following the death) from friends, neighbors, colleagues, Governor David Paterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York State Senator Eric Adams, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, NYS Police Superintendent John Melville, and many New York State Sheriffs has rejuvenated the pride in a beloved father for a family that has been wounded forever by the depth of its loss.

Shiva was attenuated to two days (Sunday and Monday) as a result of the Pesach holidays; the family will send out notifications to arrange future dates for visitation.

Former NYS Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett states “When one of us needed help, should it be a dead in there family’s or any medical doctors assistance, Rabbi Morton Friedman was always there for us”.

Current Troop T major Robert Meyers, who knew Rabbi Friedman trough he’s father, who held the same position more then 20 years ago states, “Rabbi Friedman will always be remembered as a kind human being who was helping every person in need no mater of he’s faith”

Death has a painful sting because it leaves a void that can never be refilled.  Rabbi Friedmans eldest son, Abe Friedman, will attenuate the depths of that abyss by fulfilling a deathbed promise to his revered and adored father.  Undertaking to cherish the legacy of a venerated patriarch, Abe Friedman has pledged: I will devote my own life to confirming, preserving, and upholding the legacy of my dear father. His name will never be forgotten; I will continue his good works with every bit of strength and ability I possess.  I so dedicate myself.

The NY state Troopers union has announced Rabbi Abe Friedman to replace his late father Rabbi Morton, as the agency’s Chaplain, this past Friday.

(YWN Desk – NYC)