Ezekiel Landau
Ezekiel (Yeḥezkel) Landau was born in Opatów (Apt), Poland, and was part of the kabbalistic kloyz in Brody. In 1745, he became the chief rabbi and head of yeshiva in Jampol, Poland. Landau was appointed chief rabbi of Prague in 1754, a position he held until his death. In this public role, he contributed to political decisions concerning education and military service. Landau is most revered for his halakhic scholarship, particularly his Noda bi-Yehudah (1776; 1811), a two-volume collection of more than 850 responsa; he became known by the title of that work.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
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Derushe ha-tselah (Sermons [of Landau])
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Noda bi-Yehudah (Known in Judah)
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Sermon for the Sabbath Preceding Passover
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Eulogy for Empress Maria Theresa
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Rabbinic Scholarship, 1750–1880
Despite the challenges to the status of rabbinic scholarship beginning in the early modern period, it flourished with figures of coruscating brilliance in Central and Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century.
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Political Life and Thought, 1750–1880
Jews debated all sides of the major political issues of their day. Some welcomed the idea of equality, whereas others feared the loss of their religious-institutional distinctiveness.