Rabbi Yechezkel HaLevi Landau, known as the Noda BiYehuda after his work, was born on 18 Cheshvan 5474 (1713) in Opatów, Poland, into a family that traced its descent to Rashi. His father, Rabbi Yehuda Landau, was head of the Opatów community and a member of the Council of Four Lands. As a child he studied Talmud with his father and, until eleven, under Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik Segal of Ludmir; at his bar mitzvah he went to study at the Kloiz of Brody, where he also deepened his knowledge of Scripture, Kabbalah and philosophy.

In 1734 he became a dayan in Brody, and in 1745 rabbi of Yampol, from where he tried to mediate in the controversy between Rabbi Yaakov Emden and Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschütz. In 1754 he was appointed chief rabbi of Prague, where he remained for nearly forty years.

His responsa, Noda BiYehuda, are among the most famous in rabbinic literature: questions came to him from all over Europe, and his answers remain authoritative. He also wrote Tziyun LeNefesh Chayah (Tzlach), commentaries on the Talmud, and Dagul Merevavah on the Shulchan Aruch. Leading the Prague community in an age of upheaval, he defended tradition while dealing with the imperial authorities.

He passed away on 17 Iyar 5553 (1793) and rests in Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery.