Reb Dovid Kronglas 
died 5733/1973
The American Challenge
A Mashgiach strives with the Rosh Yeshivah to guide his students toward becoming the adam hashaleim, the complete man: immersed in Torah study, in pursuit of perfection in character, enhancing his faith and love of G-d. This was an ambitious goal even in Europe, but at least it was in the realm of the possible. After all, the students had come from towns where these goals were understood and admired ... In his hometown of Kobrin, Reb Dovid [Rabbi Weiss's reference to Reb Dovid as "the Rebbe" was changed for publication] would recall, there were always 60 to 80 people at study in the beis hamidrush - around the clock. Some worked during the day and learned from early evening until midnight. Others retired early and came to the beis hamidrush in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours... and so a day would pass. When someone left the comforts of home in a town such as this to join a yeshivah, he was surely searching for gadlus - Greatness in Torah. Ulterior motives? Perhaps for fame or reward - to be a talmid chacham, revered by all, - to obtain a position of dignity ... A Mashgiach's task, then, was to influence his charges to elevate their goals, and to attempt to purify their motives as must as possible, to raise the human to the divine.
On these shores, by contrast, yeshivah students came from towns where the dominant attitude was often in opposition to Torah, indifferent and even hostile to the very concept of kedushah. Individual students were weak in scholarship, totally lacking in thirst for growth in learning and greatness of spirit. The Mashgiach's task was thus difficult and complex. Students had to be transformed into talmidim. Concepts had to be introduced along with the goals. And more: even after becoming converted into a yeshivah bachur, the student then had to become equipped to withstand the unusual pressures of American society - the hedonism, materialism, and the surge toward permissiveness, all so prevalent here. They needed the wherewithal to face these challenges in post-yeshivah life - whether as rabbi, mechanech (educator), or responsible layman. A formidable undertaking - but as Reb Dovid was wont to say: "For what other reason did Hashem save us from the Holocaust?"
A Mashgiach Plus
In Europe, the Mashgiach was primarily identified with spiritual guidance: saying shmuessen (lectures in ethics), setting the tone in the yeshivah, and counseling individuals. Reb Dovid felt that in America, where an interest was yet to be cultivated in Torah and yiras Shomayim (fear of G-d), this approach would be ineffective. The bachur would have to become close to his Rebbe and have confidence in him in all areas of Torah before responding to him by changing his attitude towards his life purpose. Reb Dovid therefore undertook the additional burden of teaching the highest daily Gemara class.
This dual burden kept him in the yeshivah from 7:30 in the morning until six in the evening, in addition to devoting later hours to counseling students and to intensive preparation for his daily class. This had tremendous impact on his students, who were smitten by his infectious love for Torah study; in addition, he established himself as an authority in those areas we learned to value most: breadth of knowledge and depth of understanding in the Talmud. His every lecture created thirst for the next one, to know the Torah that he knew, to know it thoroughly, as he did.
Reb Dovid did not have to lecture us on "ki heim chayeinu - for they (the precepts) are our life"; we saw it in his actions... in the light that shone in his eyes - eyes that betrayed very few hours of sleep... in his stubborn devotion to his rigorous schedule, never failing to say his shiur. In fact, with the exception of unusual illness, or a most important religious event, he never missed his class - not on his wedding day, not on his daughter's wedding day, not on the day of his son's bris - not even during the final pain-ridden days of his life.
During those last weeks, his family urged him to relax his regimen, to skip a shiur, to which he replied, "One does not get sick from saying shiur."
A Rosh Yeshivah who had shared an apartment with him in Shanghai remarked that he only remembered him engrossed in his study, even under the most trying circumstances ... He wondered when he ever slept.
During the darkest days of the war, depressing news often shook the beis hamidrash, dampening the atmosphere. Reb Dovid confessed that he found it difficult to concentrate on his studies during this period, and he would lock himself up in a shul, studying Zera'im with a friend, undistracted... The fruits of those arduous days are in his greatly admired sefer "Divrei Dovid."
The Mussar Shmuess
The classic mussar shmuess is usually a lecture aimed at influencing the listener to self-improvement - hardly a theme to set people running for a front seat. Yet, Reb Dovid's weekly shmuess, after Shalosh Seudos, would trigger a rush for a "good seat" - for many reasons. First, he formulated a shmuess as he did any Torah lecture: drawing on Shas and Poskim (Talmud, Commentaries, and the Codes) to clarify an ethical topic; in the final analysis, aren't issues of ethics and morality also determined by halachah?
In addition, Reb Dovid incorporated basics of emunah into his lectures, to prepare his talmidim for the difficult challenges of America's open society, for he was keenly aware of the American bachur's shortcomings and how to meet them. This was done with subtlety, not raising questions in emunah. He would rather present the elements of our belief - often not making us aware of the treasures we were receiving ... Later, many commented that the shmuessen equipped them to cope with difficult situations and challenges to emunah long after their yeshivah years. For that matter, his shmuessen had tremendous impact at the time we heard them, many of us experiencing great upheavals in our world-view then and there. Many a youngster who came to the yeshivah determined to become a professional in later life dropped these ambitions to concentrate instead on attaining shleimus (perfection) in avodas Hashem (service to G-d), and eventually devoted his adult life to dissemination of Torah.
The Approach: Beyond Intellect
The overwhelming effectiveness of the shmuess could not have resulted simply from the Mashgiach's intellectual approach. Indeed, his words not only resounded in our ears and our minds, but struck chords in our hearts as well, in keeping with the ma'amar Chazal: "Words that emanate from the heart enter the heart." So, too, did his random statements, his words of advice, and his manner reinforce the themes of his mussar talks.
A young couple, married a number of years without children, were told by their doctor that it would be impossible for them to have children as long as they observed taharas hamishpachah (laws of family purity) with all rabbinical ordinances. They consulted Reb Dovid, who spent several hours, stressing that everything is in the hands of G-d... the doctor's findings are not binding on Him. He succeeded in transmitting his firm belief directly to them, and they left his house with joyful confidence that their fate was in the hands of One they could trust... Within that year they were blessed with a baby girl.
Words were of scant importance in preparing us for the judgment of Yamim Naraim in comparison to witnessing his awareness, his trembling during those days.
In the beginning of Elul, one could sense the approach of the days of judgment from his bearing, embodying Reb Yisrael Salanter's paradox: The loftier one's level of life, the more impelled he feels to prepare himself for Judgment; the more mundane one's life, the less impelled he feels to prepare. One would expect the opposite to be the case.
His appreciation of Yom Kippur for the closeness to HaShem it offers was so profound that he once remarked that were it not a day of judgment, one would dance a rikud of joy... His joyful gratitude for the Yom Kippur "forgiveness of our sins" did find full expression during Succos. He would sit in his succah radiating joy, even (uncharacteristically) tasting every dish brought before him, because doing so was part of the mitzvah.
His Life Assignment
Reb Dovid used to cite the phrase: "He scrutinizes every man's deeds and his assignment"; that each person's actions are judged not on an objective scale, but in relation to his assignment in life. He thus ignored his own achievements and scholarship, only examining whether he was fulfilling his own life assignment. And he viewed his position with the yeshivah as not just a job, but as his life's mission.
He once confided: People dream of what they would do with a sudden acquisition of a great sum of money - how they would spend it, how it would change their lives. "As for me," he said, "my first thought is to return every cent of salary I received from the yeshivah over the years."
In fact, he viewed every aspect of life as part of his life- assignment. This was evident in his ability to shift mood and manner.
Especially sparing of words in Elul, and surely during Yamim Noraim, he surprised a group of students who returned from a pioneering mission in an out-of-town community just prior to Yom Kippur. Reb Dovid carried on a warm, animated conversation, inquiring into details of their venture... After all, they were involved in Harbotzas Torah (dissemination of Torah) and needed every encouragement.
He could sense the tension of a talmid approaching him for a discussion. To disarm him, he would inject a humorous quip, putting the boy at ease... When chastising a student, he would be extremely cautious not to alienate him in any way.
A bachur was once sporting a sweater too flashy for his particular station in the yeshivah. Reb Dovid felt it improper. Rather than risk offending him, he complimented him on the beautiful colors of his attire. The message was received without ill-feeling.
Once when he was rebuking a student, one could sense a strength in his outburst. In the middle of the tongue-lashing, a talmid who had just become engaged entered the room. Reb Dovid's countenance changed completely as he broke into a smile, wishing the chassan well, and he held a pleasant exchange with him. He then returned to the first student with the same fire as before... totally in control of both situations and of himself.
Hakoras hatov, acknowledgement of acts of kindness from others, was a frequent theme in his shmuessen - but more, was an ever-present aspect of his life.
When a talmid drove him home, he would repeatedly refer to this act of kindness... The "dairy cook" commented after his passing that she prepared a bowl of bland cereal for him every day, because of his diet; he never failed to send a different expression of appreciation every time.
A talmid who drove him from home to the yeshivah every morning recalled that whenever there was a heavy snowfall, Reb Dovid would leave his house earlier to meet the car on the main road to spare the driver the difficulty of driving through unplowed snow.
On one occasion he asked the driver to wait a moment; he had forgotten something and had to rush back home; When he had left and wished all the members of his family "a good day," one of his daughters was not present. He owed her good wishes as well.
A Double Set of Books
He would often quote Reb Yisrael Salanter's directive that a person must have two methods of bookkeeping: extremely tight-fisted with himself in self-indulgences, yet highly ambitious and demanding on the spiritual level; for others, he should be overindulgent to a fault, showering them with recognition and material needs. Reb Dovid personified this in his lofty personal existence, contrasted with his down-to-earth practical concern for others, involving himself in every detail of their life. This concern was most evident when he counseled older students in courtship and marriage.
There are many people and talmidim who never even realized that they were being helped. His chessed was cloaked in modesty, as this was his motto in life.
Once his Rebbetzin overheard him discussing buying a stock on the stock market from one of the talmidim who just got married. Knowing that he did not believe in investing money in the "market," she asked what suddenly had happened, especially since he spent so much time on the phone with this young man. He answered with a smile: "This stock is a 'real' stock since it's a d'var mitzvah to give this young man confidence and encouragement, since he just got married."
His consideration for others was so deeply engraved in his heart that even under difficult situations it surfaced.
When he was in the emergency room with his first heart attack with high fever, the Rebbetzin heard him say, "the room ... the room." Upon asking what he wished, with great difficulty he transmitted the message that it bothers him that his Rebbetzin can not sit in the emergency room and he would prefer to be in his room so she could sit down.
Erev Shabbos Kodesh, one day before his passing, he was taken to the doctor. He could not keep his head up, he was suffering so. A young man from the yeshivah was also waiting for the doctor, and he offered Reb Dovid his turn. Reb Dovid refused saying that the young man was a choleh - sick - and under no circumstances would he go ahead of him. "And if it'll be too late to see the doctor then we'll go home without seeing him!"
When someone would call with a difficult she'eila (halachic query) to which he knew the answer was "forbidden" he would take the number of the caller and say that he had to look into it more deeply and then call him back. He would confide, "I know that it's forbidden, but I can't say right away that 'it's not permitted.' The other person will not feel so good if it's so easily said that it's forbidden."
Lunch hour was not his own. He only had a coffee at mid-day, devoting his time to sessions with select groups of bachurim, sometimes discussing problems with individuals, other times enhancing their knowledge with lessons in extra-curricular sefarim (Sifrei Maharal, Nefesh Hachaim, Derech Hashem). While he took pains to display little of his personal attainments, during these sessions he would inadvertently reveal his vast knowledge of Kabbalah and other specialized areas.
He once offered the following advice for achieving humility: Imagine yourself with your friends before the Heavenly Tribunal. Can we be sure that, after taking everything into account, G-d will consider us greater than our friends? Give the matter some thought, and we could at least be in doubt in regard to anyone we know. A little more thought, and we would realize that, indeed, everyone exceeds us in merit one way or another... Advice such as this may sound excessively ambitious, but hearing Reb Dovid express it, realizing that it was his credo in life, did have overwhelming impact on the listener.
No Easy Assessment
The far-reaching effect of Reb Dovid Kronglas' personality and teachings cannot easily be assessed. Thousands who were under his influence and tutelage at Ner Israel went on to become conscientious laymen, rabbis, teachers, mechanchim - some fulfilling positions of Rosh Yeshivah and Mashgiach Ruchani in America and Israel... Some of his influence will never be uncovered. It can only be guessed at. For instance, the ambulance driver who took him to the hospital on the last day of his life did not sound the siren in deference of his sensibilities - so as not to frighten people on the yeshivah campus... Or the doctors and nurses who knew him for but a few hours, yet cried when he passed away, apologizing and explaining that although doctors usually do not cry when a patient dies, but "This was a man!" These impressions were implanted far and wide, and are still being felt.
Those of us who were so deeply moved and molded by his shmuessen find the published sefarim, his own transcription of his lectures, vivid reminders of the scope of his thought and his personality, keeping our Rebbe very much "before your eyes."
There was a time when Torah was transmitted from the senior generation, by way of the collective heart of the entire community, to their children. Today, especially on these shores, communities are too impoverished. The burden of this transmission falls upon the yeshivah, with special stress on its heart. When the yeshivah is graced with the presence of a Mashgiach of the caliber of Reb Dovid, then the task focuses on him, as he transmits to the bachur: halachah, perfection in character, yiras Shomayim, emunah, not as independent achievements, but as integral parts of the adam hashaleim - the complete man.