By Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Rabbi Yaakov Landa was a chasid of the fifth Lubavicher Rebbe, the Rebbe Reshab, but not the usual type of chasid. The Rebbe took an unusual liking to him and even made him the 'House Rabbi.' Any questions that arouse in the household of the Rebbe; if a chicken was kosher, if something was permissible on Shabbat etc., would be directed to Rabbi Landa. And, needless to say, the devotion of Rabbi Landa to the Rebbe was boundless.
In addition to being a great Scholar, Rabbi Landa was a very knowledgeable man in mundane things as well and was an expert at home remedies.
When the very contagious and deadly disease of typhus broke out in Russia near the turn of the century Rabbi Landa had ample opportunity to use his skills. The regular doctors, besides having virtually no treatment for typhus, were also understandably very reluctant to come in contact with the sick, while Rabbi Landa had both remedies and did not fear for himself when it came to saving others.
He succeeded in healing hundreds but it was almost inevitable that he eventually contracted the disease himself. In a matter of days he lost consciousness and his life was hanging in the balance for several weeks until the crisis finally passed and he came to.
The only problem was, that when he was sick and unconscious, the Rebbe Reshab passed away, unbeknownst to him.
Every day Rabbi Landa was taken from his room outside into the sun to get stronger, until after several more weeks he was back to his old self. Of course all the time he was recovering, he asked everyone that passed by about the Rebbe's health, but the chasidim agreed among themselves not to mention a word to him about the Rebbe's passing. The answer was always the same: "the Rebbe is fine."
But Rabbi Landa sensed that something was wrong and kept asking, until somehow he got the one person that didn't know about this agreement, and he heard the bitter truth.
A normal person can understand what a terrible blow this must have been to him. A Rebbe is more than just a leader or even a father, the Rebbe virtually reveals the soul and true essence of the Chasid. But the relationship between Rabbi Landa and the Rebbe Reshab was even deeper and more personal than that; Rabbi Landa had been near the Rebbe day and night and his life was virtually tied up with his.
That night Rabbi Landa wrote a short letter to the Rebbe. He folded the letter up, put it in an envelope, and the next morning, when he was taken outside, he waited for the same man to pass, to whom he handed the letter and requested that he put it on the Rebbe's grave and tell no one about it.
In the letter he wrote that he wanted the Rebbe to take him away from this world. He wanted to be with the Rebbe because he felt that life was worth nothing without him.
Two days later the Rebbe's son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (who became the Rebbe in his father's stead) came to visit Rabbi Landa. He pulled up a chair, sat next to his bed where he was laying in the sunlight, and said, "I was just by my father's grave and he gave me a message to give over to you."
Rabbi Landa ushered up all his strength, propped himself up on the bed and prepared himself for the Rebbe's message from 'beyond.' When the Rebbe's son saw Rav Landa was ready, he continued.
"My father said: 'Stop making stupid requests!'"
Reprinted from an email of Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, www.ohrtmimim.org.
