Background
Landau was born in Opatów, Poland, to a family that traced its lineage back to Rashi, and attended yeshiva at Ludmir and Brody.
Landau was born in Opatów, Poland, to a family that traced its lineage back to Rashi, and attended yeshiva at Ludmir and Brody.
He is best known for the work Noda Biyhudah (נודע ביהודה), by which title he is also known. In Brody, he was appointed dayan (rabbinical judge) in 1734, and in 1745 he became rabbi of Yampol. While in Yampol, he attempted to mediate between Jacob Emden and Jonathan Eybeschütz in a debate—"The Emden-Eybeschütz Controversy"—that "had disrupted Jewish communal life for many years".
His role in the controversy is described as "tactful" and brought him to the attention of the community of Prague—where, in 1755, he was appointed rabbi.
He also established a Yeshiva there. Avraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam, is amongst his best known students.
Landau was highly esteemed not only by the community, but also by others And he stood high in favor in government circles.
Thus, in addition to his rabbinical tasks, he was able to intercede with the government on various occasions when anti-Semitic measures had been introduced.
Though not opposed to secular knowledge, he objected to "that culture which came from Berlin", in particular Moses Mendelssohn"s translation of the Pentateuch. He had a controversy on this subject with Baruch Jeiteles (Phinehas Hananiah Argosi di Silva), who, under the title of Ha-Oreb, published (Vienna, 1795) Landau"s letter to him and his own rejoinder. Landau published his responsa under the title of Shibat Ẓiyyon (Prague, 1827).
He edited his father"s Ahabat Ẓiyyon and Doresh le-Ẓiyyon (ib 1827), adding to the former work four homilies of his own, and to the latter a number of halakic discourses.
