R’ Landau once helped a young non-Jewish boy with food and clothing when he was in distress. Years later, as an apprentice in a bakery, the boy overheard a plan by the non-Jews to poison bread intended for Jews on the day after Pesach, when all the Jews would buy bread.
Remembering R’ Landau’s kindness, he rushed to warn him. R’ Landau immediately gathered all the Jews together on the last day of Pesach, and announced that there had been a miscalculation in the calendar. They had started Pesach a day early, and therefore, they must keep an extra day of Pesach.
On the “ninth” day of Pesach, the non-Jewish bakers were eager and ready to sell the poisonous bread to the Jews, but not one Jew came to make any purchases. They accused the Jews of sabotaging their businesses.
When confronted, R’ Landau asked for one of the loaves of bread. He threw it to a dog, and after a few mouthfuls, the dog dropped dead from the poison. R’ Landau thus proved their malicious intent, and a large tragedy was averted. It was a powerful example of how R’ Landau’s silent acts of kindness had inestimable ripple effects for Klal Yisroel.
A young man from a poor background was learning in Prague and caught the attention of R’ Landau for his brilliance and yiras Shamayim. When the boy approached him privately, distressed that his impoverished status was preventing him from securing a shidduch, R’ Landau took it upon himself to advocate for him. He sent a personal letter to a prominent family, vouching not for the boy’s intellect alone, but for his character. The girl’s family agreed to meet him, and the match was ultimately made. Years later, the couple’s son became a leading posek in his own right. R’ Landau’s deep understanding of people—and his willingness to personally involve himself—changed their family’s future.
Reprinted from the Parshas Emor 5785 email of The Weekly Vort.
