Mdlevine…..Your long posting made sense…till the last paragraph!! Pashute Yid has already skewered your argument pretty well but allow me to add another twist…WHY can’t I question a godol on his opinions?? Remember, this is not a Psak halocho that you ask for and should accept. These are OPINIONS ON GENERAL MATTERS!! (including Rav Belsky’s opinion on Chabad). I have argued till I am blue in the face that it is fully legitimate to question a godol’s OPINIOn on genral matters! My continuing back and forth with joseph has been on that detail….I do not believe that “emunas chachomim” has anything to do with matters of general interest and that “daas torah”, with its intimation of no dissent, is a modern invention.
Allow me to quote a gemoro (in berochos) that said that when Dovid Hamelech wanted to go to war , he consulted the Sanhedrin, then his advisers and lastly ,teh Urim Vetumim.
If emunas chachomim and daas torah are so infallible, why didn’t he just ask the sanhedrin and nothing else1 After all, they were the last word on everything, according to you, and their word could not be questioned. The answer is that their opinion was not the last word, juts an opinion.
I fail to see why this has changed. You may call me an “apikoros” for not believeng in “daas torah” as you call it, but I have never seen any legitimate basis for leaving my own intelligence at the door when talking to a godol.