R’ Dovid Yehuda “Duki” Greenwald, founder of Hatzalah in Israel, has died at 57 after years of illness. A Breslov Hasid known for his devotion to helping others, Greenwald spent much of his life building volunteer emergency services and responding to people in distress. His death came just a month before his son’s wedding, a detail that has made the loss especially painful for those close to him.
The original Hatzalah concept was created in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, by Rabbi Hershel Weber in 1965. Weber recognized that in a medical emergency, local volunteers with proper training could often arrive faster than an ambulance. What began as a neighborhood service grew into a model copied by Jewish communities around the world. Greenwald brought that same sense of urgency and communal responsibility to Israel.
A Jerusalem Post article from 2006 identified Greenwald as chairman of Hatzolah, a haredi paramedic organization operating ambulances and first-aid motorcycles throughout the country. The organization also worked closely with Rabbi Moshe Halberstam, who answered halachic questions involving medicine and helped make sure its activities followed Jewish law. Greenwald described Halberstam as someone who was respected by a wide range of religious Jews, from religious Zionists to Sephardim.
Greenwald’s contribution was not simply organizational. He helped make emergency response a personal obligation for volunteers who were prepared to leave what they were doing and go where they were needed. The system he built has saved lives and continues to serve people across Israel. He leaves behind his family, his community, and a standard of service that will be difficult to replace.
