 Rabbi Yehezkel Landau: The Rewards of Feeding the Hungry Printed with permission from "The Chesed Boomerang" by Jack Doueck www.judaicapress.com There is a story told about Rabbi Yehezkel Landau, otherwise known as the Noda Biyehuda. One day he was walking in the streets of Prague and he came upon a ten year old non-Jewish boy sitting on the street crying. Rabbi Landau asked the boy what was wrong. The boy told him that his father was a baker. Everyday, the boy would sell rolls and give the money to his stepmother. Today, he had been mugged and his rolls were stolen. Now, his family would have nothing to eat. He was afraid to face his stepmother with the truth. Without batting an eyelash, Rabbi Landau reached into his pocket and gave the boy the money he would have earned. The boy just sat there, astonished. Eight years later, Rabbi Landau answered a knock at his door. A tall young man stood at the door. “I know that your Passover holiday ends on Monday. The non-Jewish bakers in this town have decided that they are going to pay the Jews back for killing Jesus. So, they are going to poison the bread. I am sworn to secrecy. So Rabbi, please don't let your people eat the bread. Do not let anyone know why or they will kill me.” Rabbi Landau looked at the young man incredulously. “Why? Why did you tell me?” “Do you remember a little boy who sat on the street crying about eight years ago? Do you remember how you helped him? Well, I do. That little boy was me and I'll never forget you. You Jews are compassionate and good and I know that. This is my way of saying 'Thank you!'” Rabbi Landau issued a decree that there was a mistake in the calendar and the Jews must celebrate another day of Passover and not eat bread yet. The Prague bakers lost money (they couldn't sell the poisoned bread to anyone else). They complained to the local authorities that this Rabbi Landau had caused them monetary loss. An investigation ensued and the poisoned bread was discovered.
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