Yechezkel Landau (TheNodah Biyehudah)

(1713 - ?)

Rabbi Yechezkel Landau was born in 1713 in Opatow, Poland, and received his Rabbinical education in Galicia. From 1746 a Rabbi in Yampole on the upper Dniester, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague and head of the Yeshiva (Talmudic school) in 1755.

He is best known to us today through his monumental work of she'alot uteshuvot entitled Noda Biyehudah, one of the most authoritative sources in Halacha. He was a devoted Rosh Yeshiva, a compassionate Rabbi, a strong community leader and a skillful negotiator with governments during the numerous wars and threatened expulsions that plagued the Jewish community.

The Nodah Biyehudah is buried in the Fibichova cemetery, near the television tower in Prague 2. Keys can be obtained at MATANA Travel Agency, Maiselova 15.

Sources: Jewish Prague