Chag Sameach, Happy Passover from Jerusalem. 

These past days have been tragic as another beautiful family has been brutally torn asunder in a mindless terrorist attack. 

The Dee family was on the way to a family outing which ended in the murder of their mother and two daughters. 

I did not have the honor of knowing these people, but from social media I see that many of my friends knew them well. 

It feels as though we have lost members of our family. 

During the Passover holiday we hold this searing pain of losing these precious sisters as we celebrate our freedom. 

The undeniable and everlasting dichotomy of the Jewish people. 

I am here in a hotel in Jerusalem, spending the holiday with my mother. 

There are hundreds of people here, mostly strangers, although I have found some old friends. 

There was one woman I noticed in the crowd. 

She is beautiful. 

Her dress elegant and her comportment regal. 

Her apparent age made me think she might be a holocaust survivor and I was really drawn to her. 

At one point we were sitting near one another and I began a conversation. 

I introduced my mother, Mrs. Landau, to this lady. 

She responded in shock that her maiden name was also Landau and she was from Krakow originally. 

I shared that my grandfather was also Landau from Krakow. 

Now if your surname is Landau and you meet another person with the same name, the next question is inevitable. 

We ask each other if we are descendants of the Noda B’Yehuda, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, Chief Rabbi of Prague in the late 1700s, whose seminal Torah writings are still studied extensively today. It is an honor and responsibility to be his descendant. 

We both answered in the affirmative. 

We grasped hands and looked at one another in wonder. 

In this crowd of 1000 people we had discovered family. 

Besides Rabbi Landau’s extensive responsa and Torah, there are chronicled many wonderful stories of his amazing character traits. 

One story is very timely. 

Once Rabbi Landau came across a beggar child crying in the street. Most might not have even seen the urchin, but the Rabbi stopped to inquire what was wrong. The child explained that he had been hawking some rolls, and a thief had just stolen his meager earnings. He was crying in fear because he knew when he would return home, his horrible stepfather, the baker, would beat him brutally. 

Rabbi Landau asked the child how much money he had earned and then promptly gave him the coins needed to return home without impunity. 

The child thanked the Rabbi and each went their own way. 

Many years later, as the Passover holiday was coming to an end, a young man knocked on Rabbi Landau’s door in the middle of the night. 

It was none other than the urchin boy, coming to return the favor. 

He never forgot the lifesaving kindness extended by the Rabbi so he came to warn the Rabbi that his evil stepfather, a rabid antisemite, had hatched a nefarious plan. 

The man knew that when the Passover holiday would end in two days, all the Jewish community would go to the one baker to buy their first bread after the holiday. The stepfather had planned to poison the bread and in this way he would be able to kill the whole community. 

The Rabbi was stunned and of course deeply grateful that this young man would risk his life to uncover the plot. 

The young man said he had hoped all his life that he would have an opportunity to properly thank the Rabbi for saving his life and now he had fulfilled that dream. 

Rabbi Landau had to think fast. 

How could he save the community and still catch the perpetrator. 

The next day a communication went out to the whole community that he needed to address everyone at synagogue. 

Everyone came in response to the request of the beloved rabbi. 

He ascended the pulpit and made a grave announcement. 

Rabbi Landau informed the community that a mistake had been made in the calculation of the calendar and there was actually another day of Passover to be observed and they may not eat bread for one more day. 

The community accepted his decree without question. 

By doing this, Rabbi Landau knew he would prevent everyone from eating the tainted bread and would allow him time to alert the authorities and catch the baker in the act. 

And so it was. 

The community of Prague was saved by a kindness extended in quiet and anonymity by Rabbi Landau. 

The lovely lady I met, who is indeed a holocaust survivor, was very moved by our meeting(as of course was I). 

She said repeatedly, two Jews can meet for the first time and find out they are family. 

As we come to the final days of Passover, and don’t worry we aren’t adding any more days), let’s hold our immediate family very close and love them despite the fact that being close for so many days may bring tensions. And let us also hold space in our hearts for our extended family, the Dee family, who is undergoing an unspeakable tragedy. 

Because when two Jews meet each other, they immediately realize they are family. 

Chag Sameach, Happy Passover, and so much love from Jerusalem, home away from home for us all!