Family and friends of Joseph and Sylvia Landow remembered them Oct. 5 during the joint unveiling of their headstones at New Montefiore Cemetery in Farmingdale.
The Landows, who were both 96 when they died three weeks apart last spring at the Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Commack, had been married 65 years and had devoted their lives to Israel, Judaism and family.
Mr. Landow, an Army major during World War II, was commended after the war for helping to plan postwar Germany and investigating tax frauds by leading Nazi officials. When he left the service to open his own accounting firm, Joseph M. Landow & Co., he was asked to help the Haganah acquire essential supplies in advance of the creation of the State of Israel.
He served as an adviser to the Israeli chief of staff and the Ministry of Defense, and in 1949 he was made an honorary member of the Haganah and became a founder of the Association for the Welfare of Soldiers in Israel.
While living in Israel in the early 1950s, Mr. Landow was asked to return to the U.S. to obtain uniforms for the Israel Defense Forces in advance of Independence Day and the first parade of Israeli soldiers. When he asked how much he had to spend, Israel’s prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, told him that if he had a budget, he wouldn’t need him. So Mr. Landow raised the money himself and got the uniforms to Israel in time.
Mr. Landow was a co-founder of the Association of Welfare of Soldiers in Israel, the American-Israel Friendship League and the Conference of Jewish Organizations of Nassau County. He was also involved in the American Jewish League for Israel, the United Israel Appeal and the Long Island Committee for Soviet Jewry.
Mrs. Landow was also active in many Jewish causes, including their synagogue, Temple B’nai Sholom in Rockville Centre, L.I. She was national chairman and a member of the national board of Hadassah and served on the board of the RVC Chapter of Hadassah. She was also a co-founder of the Conference of Jewish Organizations of Nassau County.
Their children, Ida and Gene Lesserson and Reva and Alan Rothenberg; four grandchildren and six great grandchildren survive them.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
