Sitting from left to right: Mayor of Bnei Brak Rabbi Yaakov Asher, US Ambassador James B. Cunningham, Rabbi Aaron D. Davis, Bnei Brak Chief Rabbi Moshe Landau and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Safran, Feb. 23, 2010. Photo: Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv/Flash90.

JNS.org – Chief rabbi of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau, passed away on March 30 at the age of 84.

Landau served in his position for 32 years and operated a Badatz kosher-certification supervision organization, also handling the marriage, eruv, mikvah and other religious needs for the city. He was known to be a unifying presence in a bustling city.

The rabbi passed away at Laniado Hospital in Netanya on Saturday night following a stroke. He was hospitalized after becoming ill with an infection earlier in the week.

The rabbi is survived by his wife, Miriam, and their children—six rabbis in Tzfat, Toronto, London, Netanya, California and Bnei Brak, and three rabbis’ wives in Bnei Brak—as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Rabbi Eliyahu Landa of Bnei Brak.

Landau was laid to rest Mount of Olives cemetery next to his father, Rabbi Yaakov Landa, the previous chief rabbi of Bnei Brak.

At a population of more than 193,000 people, Bnei Brak is Israel’s most densely populated city, and the fifth most densely populated in the world, home to a large haredi community.