Betzalel Landau, one of the most prolific religious journalists is no more.
After suffering for years from a terminal illness which he bore with fortitude, he succumbed on the 16th of Iyyar. He was 72. The large crowd that attended his funeral in Jerusalem, included prominent rabbis and Roshei Yeshiva, Hasidic personalities– among them the Rebbe of Belz– and communal leaders. In accordance with his request there were no eulogies. Rabbi Menahem Porush bade him farewell with short, emotion packed words.
He was laid to rest on the Mount of Olives, near the tomb of his grandfather, who had been rabbi of Grybow, Galicia and that of a young son, who had preceded him in death.
Landau who was born in Jerusalem and studied at the city’s Meah Shearim and Etz Hayyim Yeshivot was one of the first members of the editorial staff of HaModia, the Agudist daily that was established 47 years ago.
On the morrow of his funeral, HaModia devoted three articles– including the editorial– to a description of his personality, his achievements and the important role he played in the molding of the newspaper.
In the first years he served HaModia in various capacities, such as translator, correspondent and night editor. Later he specialized in writing about rabbinic and Hasidic personalities and about various facts of Jewish life– including historical essays, studies about Hasidic doctrines and values, customs, Halakhic problems and controversies, etc. — as well as reviews of new Sefarim. Landau’s learned and beautifully written articles, essays and studies were very popular and widely read. His writings were not only published in HaModia but in a large variety of religious publications.
I have known Landau since the early 1950s, when I was on the staff of HaModia. I remember him as a very able journalist. He represented the paper at the official press briefings held after the weekly meeting of the Cabinet. On the days he served as night editor, you could see him listening to the news broadcasts of Arabic stations. He knew Arabic well.
His fine intellectual and moral qualities were aptly described in the HaModia articles which appeared after his death. He was a man of great knowledge, was extremely modest and was very good hearted.
We remained close friends even after I had left the HaModia. We saw each other whenever he visited the U.S. He was an excellent lecturer and on one of his visits to this country he lectured at various day schools. We also met whenever I visited Jerusalem.
Throughout the year I followed his publications with great interest. His first book, HaBaal Shem Tov Uvnei Hekhalo about the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples, appeared in 1961. “With feelings of reverence, I approach the task I set myself to gather in this book all the traditions and stories he writes in the beginning of the large volume.
Landau enumerates 112 books which quote sayings by the Baal Shem Tov and names 48 volumes containing some details about the latter’s life. His own book is based on all these works.
Two years later Landau published a book of Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzhensk.
Landau who never missed an opportunity to attend an important Hasidic event in Israel, loved to write about Hasidism, its leaders, doctrines and values. He regarded this as a must of the hour, an educational duty. he was convinced that Hasidim, which in the past had imbued the Jewish masses with faith and hope, could play a significant role in bringing back to our people and heritage today’s secularized Jewish youths who have become disillusioned with their ideals and idols.
1955 saw the publication of Landau’s greatly acclaimed biography of the Gaon of Vilna. In doing research for this book, he read almost everything which has been written about the Gaon. He also made us of manuscripts. In the 23 chapters of the biography, you can find everything known about the Gaon — with one exception. There is nothing in the volume about the gaon’s opposition to and struggle against Hasidism. During his research, Betzalel Landau collected material on those chapter of the Gaon’s life, but he decided not to include it in his book. There is peace now between Hasidim and Mitnagdim, and there was no need to dwell on tragic enmities of the past.
Two years later appeared a revised and enlarged edition of Landau’s book about the Gaon. It contains forty pages of new material, but again, not a word about the Gaon’s attitude to Hasidism.
(To be continued)
Friday May 31, 1995, The Jewish Press page 26