notpashut— maybe the gap is not that far…
but we might well still differ on whether any Godol’s words can be wrong. I don’t want to arouse the ire of a number of our posters but the Holocaust has been put forward as an example where the words of the gedolim of that generation – who advised not to leave europe – proved to be disastrous. G-d forbid for me to make an issue of this but it is obvioust that this is one instance where advice of Gedolim was proven to be erroneous.
Another might be the issue of the State of Israel- I use the name ‘state’ on purpose because I believe that the approach of Rav Kook and his talmidim is the right one (in spite of recent events). Which ‘daas torah’ do you follow: Rav kook or the Satmarer rebbe? Both great people, both Gedolim. So, which one ‘s words are to be followed?
In short- on issues which don’t touch upon direct halacha, I feel there is no such thing as ‘daas torah’ which you have to follow blindly. Remember that the Lubavitcher rebbe insisted not to give back one inch- whereas some of the present Gedolim are more flexible. Whom do you follow?
There is no unitary authority in yiddishkeit and there is no infallibility either. Only history shows what is the right approach.