Rabbi Yechiel David Landau, z”l

Harav Elye Fisher, shlita, Rosh Kollel Ger, in his emotional hesped, summed it up poignantly. It is rare, he observed, for any Yid who was born after the Churban of Europe, to have so closely personified the bearing, the dignity, the ideals, the chassidishe bren and the personal lifestyle that so characterized the generation of Jews who either perished or survived the inferno of the Second World War. Reb Yechiel Landau was just such a person.

The oldest son of Reb Avrohom Yitzchak Landau, z”l, and his wife, who passed away just  over seven months ago, Reb Yechiel was devoted to his parents and absorbed from them the values and the distinctive mindset of the “Poilishe,” Gerrer Chassidim of yesteryear. In fact Reb Yechiel, a veritable pillar of the kehillah, underwrote the construction of one of the most prominent Gerrer shtieblach in Boro Park, named Zichron Avraham in tribute to his father. The Sadovner Rav, shlita, in his eulogy, remarked that both Reb Yechiel David and his father were among the pioneers who rejuvenated the chassidishe spirit of long ago in Boro Park.

What was particularly endearing about Reb Yechiel in the eyes of all who knew him was his character, steeped in the finest of middos and principles. A simple example of this was that he was a celebrated baal korei whose exactness of pronunciation was renowned. However, even more famous were his seiver panim yafos, his smile, his personal kindness and his endearing sense of humor.

Yet, he was also a Torah scholar of note, devoting several hours each day to his learning. As his son, ybl”c, Reb Yaakov Zelig, pointed out at the levayah, Reb Chiel, as he was affectionately known, was strict to learn with all of his children as they were growing up, ensuring that they developed properly in their own learning.  On one of his trips to Eretz Yisrael not long ago, it was discovered that Reb Chiel was spending entire days, morning until evening, sitting in a particular shtiebel in Ashdod, where some of his children live, completely absorbed in his learning.

At the same time, perhaps more remarkable than anything else was his having championed the virtue of hatzneia leches, modesty, whereby most of the wonderful things that he did for people were done with no fanfare and no publicity. As Harav Dovid Olewski, shlita, Rosh Yeshivah of Mesivta Bais Yisroel, shared at the levayah, this was Reb Chiel’s personal manner, reflected in the way Reb Chiel lived his life, doing what is right and shunning the limelight. It was a manner that often concealed his chessed activities even from his own family members.

Sadly, we no longer have the zechus to have Reb Yechiel David in our midst and to benefit from his presence. The precious legacy that he bequeathed to his children, though, is one that befits an individual who might have been much older.

Yehi zichro baruch.

This article appeared in print on page 14 of the November 7th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.