Rabbi Chaim R. Landau, rabbi emeritus of Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue in Northwest Baltimore, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 3. He was 71.
The British-born Rabbi Landau was a graduate of the Guildford College of Law, Jews College, in London, with bachelor’s degree in Jewish studies. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Hamivtar in Jerusalem.
“The impact he had on our shul and the Baltimore community over two-and-a-half decades is incalculable,” wrote Rabbi Yisrael Sruli Motzen, Ner Tamid’s spiritual leader since 2013, on social media. “On a personal note, I feel confident saying that no one in the history of rabbis was as gracious to his successor as Rabbi Landau was to me. A mensch par excellence who I and so many others looked up to.
“The world is a less beautiful place without him.”
Rabbi Landau was spiritual leader of Ner Tamid for 25 years. He succeeded the shul’s founding spiritual leader, Rabbi Herschel Leibowitz, who served at Ner Tamid for nearly three decades. Rabbi Leibowitz retired in May of 1985.
Besides his role at Ner Tamid and in the larger Jewish community, Rabbi Landau — a past president of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis — was a fixture on the racquetball court at the Park Heights Jewish Community Center for decades. He was an area Senior Olympics champion with a quarter-century of competitive experience.
“Rabbi Landau was a tremendous Mensch who always knew what to say AND how to say it,” wrote Rabbi David E. Herman, former spiritual leader of Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue, on the memorial page of Sol Levinson & Bros. funeral home. “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. I still meet former congregants from both Charleston, West Virginia [Bnai Jacob, where Rabbi Landau served before coming to Baltimore], and Ner Tamid in Baltimore who speak fondly of the positive Jewish impact he had on their lives. May the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”
Although he was an adherent of modern Orthodoxy, Rabbi Landau “was able to be a part of the Orthodox Jewish world and relate with dignity and compassion to the liberal Jewish world,” wrote Rabbi Floyd L. Herman, rabbi emeritus of Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation. “I have been honored to call him my colleague.”
Rabbi Landau is survived by his 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 loving nieces, nephews, cousins, congregants, sports partners, and dear friends.
He was predeceased by his parents, Bernard and Ilse Landau; and father-in-law, Huck Saxe.
Services will be held at Ner Tamid, 6214 Pimlico Road on Monday, Aug. 5, at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Lubawitz Nusach Ari (Ner Tamid) Cemetery, 6300 Hamilton Avenue in Rosedale.
Contributions in Rabbi Landau’s memory may be sent to Ner Tamid, 6214 Pimlico Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21209,; Bikur Cholim of Baltimore, 2833 Smith Avenue, Apt. #242, Pikesville, Maryland 21209; or any Israeli charity of your choice.
The family will be in mourning this week through next Sunday at 6316 Benhurst Road in Northwest Baltimore.
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