Rav Yechezkel HaLevi Landau of Prague zt"l
הרב יחזקאל בן יהודה לאנדא זצ"ל
Iyar 17 , 5553
Rav Yechezkel HaLevi Landau of Prague zt"l
Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, the Rav of Prague, was known by the name of his book Noda B’Yehuda. During his time he was the source par excellence to whom people turned for practical advice, and even until today his name shines like a star in the firmament of Judaism.
The son of Rabbi Yehuda Levi, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau was born on Cheshvan 18, 5474 (1713) in Opatow, Poland. Up to the age of 13, he studied Torah with Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi of Ludmir, as well as with the Rav of the city, Rabbi Moshe Yaakov of Krakow, who greatly liked this young boy with a sharp mind. Together they discussed difficult problems posed by the Gemara.
At the age of 14, he went to the town of Brody and there he studied with very devoted young men. At the age of 18, he married a girl by the name Liebe, the daughter of Rabbi Yaakovka of Dubno, and went to live with his father-in-law there. Yet after a short time, he persuaded his father-in-law to come live in Brody, which was then a town filled with sages and scholars. There he was welcomed as one of the “Sages of Kloiz,” a famous Beit Midrash that included great Torah scholars.
In 5506 (1745), Rabbi Yechezkel became the Rav of Jampol. He stayed there for six years, and then he was called upon to be the Rav of Prague. There he directed a great yeshiva that attracted so many students that he was forced to study with them in the yard of the main synagogue. He gave courses in Gemara each day, and on Friday he taught the parsha of the week along with Rashi’s commentary. He loved his students like a father loves his children, and he was very happy to see them succeed. Among his students were such great rabbis as Rabbi Avraham Danzig (author of Chayei Odom) and others.
Rabbi Yechezkel had a fixed rule that, be it in Torah study or in his approach to Mussar, the main thing was not abstract study but action. It was not the discussion that counted, but the final conclusion. This is why he often comes back, in his responsum and lectures, to the point that the essential thing is not to deny oneself or fast, but to perform good deeds. On the other hand he wrote, “The main thing is diligence in study. One must study Torah works that have true meaning, mishnayos with Tosafos Yom Tom, the Gemara, the Poskim, the Chumash, Neviim and Kesuvim, as well as books on Mussar.”
All this, however, applied to others. With his own person, he was very strict and denied himself. His disciple Rabbi Eliezer Fleckles testifies that to his old age, he did not sleep in a bed, but rather with his head on a bed and his body on some chairs. He also wore a coarse haircloth on his body, and he taught while standing. From the 17th of Tammuz until the beginning of Av, he ate no animal products, and from Rosh Chodesh Av to Tisha B’Av, he only ate dry bread.
Like a shepherd faithful to his flock, Rabbi Yechezkel also devoted himself to the needs of the community. He enacted decrees, dealt with government ministers and emperors, and built up institutions that promoted tzeddakah and chesed. All aspects of Jewish life progressed in accord with his decisions.
Rabbi Yechezkel died on Iyar 17, 5553 (1793) in Prague. He ordered that neither praises nor orations be multiplied at his funeral, that a large headstone not be placed on his grave, and that no glorious titles be inscribed on it. He left numerous works behind, including Noda B’Yehuda, Hatzlacha (Tzion L’Nefesh Chaya) on the Talmud, Ahavat Tzion, and Dagul Mei’Revavah.
https://hevratpinto.org/tzadikim_eng/100_rabbi_yechezkel_landau.html
Stories of Rav Yechezkel HaLevi Landau of Prague zt"l
“He who increases charity increases peace (Avos 2:8).
Rav Ovadia Yosef used to illustrate our Mishna using the following story:
A winter storm raged outside one night as Rav Yechezkel Landau of Prague, author of the Noda B’Yehuda, sat and studied in his room when he was startled by the sounds of loud weeping. He hurried outside to see what had happened and found a small non-Jewish boy sitting on a rock shivering and crying in the rain. “What is the matter?” asked the rav. The boy explained, “I am orphaned from my mother-- and my father, the baker, remarried a cruel woman. My stepmother forces me to sell bread all day and collect the money. I hand over the profits each night before I am allowed home to eat, drink, and rest. I sold all my bread and on the way home I realized that somehow I lost all the money! What shall I do?” the boy ended miserably, “If I go home, she will beat me mercilessly. So I stayed here, but it is cold and I am hungry.”
The Rav asked how much money he had lost and gave him the amount as a gift including a few coins to buy something to satiate his hunger.
About thirty years later, on Shevi’i Shel Pesach, there was a knock on Rav Landau’s door. He opened the door and a gentile man stood there with something on his mind. “I would like to disclose a secret to you which relates to a matter of life and death” he began. I remember your kindness from some many years before and will never forget how you saved me from my wicked stepmother’s wrath, fed me, and cared for me. I am here to repay you by saving your life and the lives of all of the Jews of Prague! There is a wicked priest who called all us bakers to a meeting and told us of a plot he devised. He urged us all to poison the loaves we bake after the holiday when the Jews come and purchase our bread. He promised us eternal reward and that all our sins would be absolved. Rabbi, I am here to warn you and save you and innocent Jews of Prague from his nefarious scheme!”
The Noda B’Yehuda thanked him and hatched a plan of his own. He proclaimed a warning in all the shuls of Prague: The Rav has forbidden any Jew in the city from buying the bread from the gentile bakers. All the Jews of Prague heeded the ruling and were saved! (Anaf Etz Avos p. 108)