Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue’s rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Chaim R. Landau, died on Sunday, Aug. 3, at 71. He was a fixture at the Orthodox congregation for 25 years, and remained involved in synagogue affairs after his retirement in 2011.
Landau served as not only a spiritual leader to his congregation, but also a mentor, counselor, teacher and friend to many embarking on their own Jewish journeys.
Born in England, Landau was ordained as a rabbi at Yeshivat Hamivtar in Jerusalem. He was the rabbi at Congregation B’nai Jacob in Charleston, West Virginia, for five years before coming to Ner Tamid, succeeding its founding rabbi, Rabbi Herschel Leibowitz.
During his time at Ner Tamid, Landau was responsible for a number of significant developments at the congregation. He had the idea that led to the creation of Ner Tamid Montessori Preschool, the congregation’s Montessori school that sees young children developing life skills and familiarity with Hebrew and the Torah through hands-on activities.
For adults, he developed several additional educational opportunities, such as the Omer Lecture series.
“[Landau’s impact] goes far beyond those who walked through these walls. It is an impact still felt in Charleston, West Virginia, where he started his rabbinate, with a creative bang and flourish. It is an impact still felt by the many students he taught in so many of the local schools. It is an impact felt in the dining rooms of the homes he visited. It is an impact still felt by the patients and staff of the University of Maryland Medical Center where his beautiful piano playing filled the entire hospital giving hope and life to those inside,” said Ner Tamid’s current spiritual leader, Rabbi Yisrael Motzen, in a eulogy he gave at Landau’s funeral.
Motzen noted in his speech that while it was intimidating to start his position at Ner Tamid after the departure of its well-loved rabbi emeritus, Landau was an invaluable, supportive mentor who wanted his successor to be judged on his own merits.
“He was gracious beyond description,” he said. “He would never sit in the front; he would beg me to stop acknowledging him from the pulpit. He would thank me profusely if I ever asked him to speak — as if I was doing him a favor.”
Notably, Landau would always give out chocolate bars to congregants after Shabbat services — a policy Motzen noted he has received some flack for doing away with.
Landau was not only notable for his rabbinical work, though. He played racquetball for many years, and after retiring, he was crowned a local Senior Olympics champion in the sport. As chronicled in the Tablet Magazine article “Racquetball Rabbi Tackles Baltimore Ravens,” Landau defeated several former Ravens players in the sport, including Bernie Thompson, team general manager Eric DeCosta and 2013 Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.
“For me, this is an entirely new world,” Landau said when interviewed for the 2015 article. “God is having a big laugh at me. Maybe this is some kind of reward for 30 years in the rabbinate. Everyone here has been so nice to me.”
Landau wasn’t just a subject of a news article, though — he wrote for several Jewish publications, including The Forward, My Jewish Learning, The Times of Israel and The Algemeiner, often focusing on American and Israeli politics from a Jewish perspective, in addition to police brutality, antisemitic hate crimes and the impact of the Trump administration.
“Rabbi Landau was a tremendous mensch who always knew what to say and how to say it. We were very close colleagues and we would be ‘on call’ for each other if the other were out of town for family simchas or other matters,” wrote Rabbi Dovid E. Herman, spiritual leader of the former Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue, in Landau’s memorial book. “I still meet former congregants from both Charleston, West Virginia [from B’nai Jacob] and Ner Tamid in Baltimore who speak fondly of the positive Jewish impact he had on their lives.”
Landau is survived by wife Mindy Landau; children Sivan Michael Landau (Quyen Nguyen), Talia (Arnon) Shorr, Dov (Melissa) Landau and Yaella (Natan) Aronhime; siblings Martin (Rosalyn) Landau and Felicity (Benji) Aziz; grandchildren Solomon, Adir, Ilana, Margalit, Isaac, Benjamin, Nissim, Hillel and Aiden; mother-in-law Bernice Saxe; brothers-in-law Jeffrey Saxe and Michael Saxe; sister-in-law Ellen (Henry) Kanner; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, congregants, sports partners and friends. He was predeceased by parents Bernard and Ilse Landau and father-in-law Huck Saxe.
Contributions may be sent to Ner Tamid Congregation, Bikur Cholim of Baltimore or any Israeli charity of your choice.
