If someone spends decades by a Gadol, from morning until night, learning not just from his words but from his every nuance, then of course they will know PRECISELY where that gadol stands on matters of Daas Torah or psak (unless it's a direct psak directed individually only for a specific person for his own specific circumstance, like when I asked a gadol hador about staying in E'Y' or going back to chutz la'eretz).
But it’s more than just knowing facts. A talmid who remains free from outside influences doesn’t just absorb information—he absorbs the Gadol's way of thinking, the way he sees reality, the way he processes the world through the lens of Torah. Over time, it becomes second nature.
The idea that Gedolim each hold entirely independent, disconnected views is simply false. There is a common consensus among the Gedolei HaDor almost all the time because their Daas Torah is rooted in Mesorah—an unbroken transmission, passed from Rebbe to Talmid, generation after generation. Just as the Gedolim of today are shaped by the Gedolim of the past, so too were those Gedolim shaped by the ones before them.
This is not a personal opinion. It is the Torah’s reality—the way Klal Yisrael has always functioned.
No Gadol ever permitted drafting women (giyus banos) or Sherut Leumi. Not one. The Gedolim ruled, without exception, "Yehareg v’al ya’avor"—a Jew must give up their life rather than comply.
This was not a political stance.
This was not an ideological opinion.
This was Daas Torah in its purest form.
And the same is true for fundamental Torah values—no Gadol ever legitimized compromising Torah observance or engaging with heretical ideologies.
This is not up for discussion. This is a fact.
Most people see what’s in front of them.
The Gedolim look at the long-term consequences—not just of an action itself, but of the mindset behind it, of the precedent it sets, of where it will lead in a generation or two.
"Eizehu chacham? HaRo'eh es haNolad."
"Who is wise? One who foresees the consequences."
The greater the Gadol, the further he sees into the future. There are Gedolim zt"l that saw 50 years ahead, and there were Gedolim that were greater and saw 100 years ahead.
This is the difference between the average mind and the mind of a Gadol HaDor. We see what is before our eyes; they see what will unfold decades later. The greatest of our Gedolim lived with an awareness of generations yet to come, weighing every decision not only in terms of today’s consequences, but in terms of eternity.
Thus, when Daas Torah appears to have multiple approaches, it is not a contradiction—it is a reflection of levels of perception. And as history has repeatedly shown, the words of the Gedolei HaDor, when followed with emunah, are revealed to be Divinely guided truth—even if at the time, they were difficult to understand.
From the very moment Zionism emerged in the late 19th century, EVERY SINGLE Gadol HaDor rejected it—le’chatchila and b’dieved.
The idea that Torah Jews could identify with or collaborate with the Zionist movement was not even a debate.
It was universally condemned, both in halacha and hashkafa, as something completely beyond the pale.
And this wasn’t a one-time ruling.
For the last 125 years, Gedolei Yisrael were asked the same question over and over again:
"Is it permitted to recognize Zionism or collaborate with the Zionist movement in order to secure certain religious or material benefits?"
And every time, the answer was the same:
Zionism is treif—completely forbidden, without exception. Nothing could change that reality.
This is not an opinion. This is Mesorah.
Imagine if someone asked whether Avodah Zarah (idolatry) is acceptable today because times have changed—does that argument make sense?
Or if someone claimed that a single crumb of chametz on Pesach is fine, because after all, it’s only a tiny bit—would we tolerate that?
Of course not.
These prohibitions are absolute, eternal, and unchangeable.
Zionism is the same.
From its inception, the Gedolei HaDor ruled that it is a spiritual poison—Avodah Zarah in a modern form.
It was treif then, and it remains treif now, with no heter, no bittul, and no way to make it permissible.
The Torah’s truth does not expire, and a psak halacha from Gedolei Olam does not become outdated just because the world around us shifts.
The Brisker Rav, Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik zt”l, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt”l, the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan zt”l, the Steipler Gaon, Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky zt”l, and Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l—among others—made it clear that Zionism is beyond redemption.
Look at the unshakable positions of these Gedolim.
When Herzl promised religious leaders that he would give control over Shabbos, Shemitta, and the Rabbinate in exchange for their support, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt”l told the Jewish leaders of Minsk that their choice was simple: "You can be with me in Olam Habo, or with Herzl where Herzl is destined to be." No matter what Zionists promised, their movement was spiritually toxic.
In 1929, when the yeshivas of Europe were on the brink of collapse, with students literally starving, the Joint Distribution Committee threatened to cut off funding unless Agudas Yisrael would join the Jewish Agency, which was an arm of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). The Gedolim were asked: Can we join under these extreme circumstances? The Chofetz Chaim zt”l and Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l ruled that it was forbidden, even if the result was the closure of the majority of yeshivos. They understood that compromising on Daas Torah means losing everything in the long run.
Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv zt”l, in 2010, when an Orthodox political party joined the WZO, publicly denounced it in the strongest possible terms, calling it "Nevalah Ne’esesa BeYisroel—A revolting deed has been done in Klal Yisroel." This wasn’t just an ideological disagreement—it was a direct assault on the Torah ideal of absolute separation from Zionism.
Would Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l, be the one to reverse course and support WZO collaboration, when no Gadol in the last century permitted it?
The very idea is illogical.
The Mesorah does not change.
The truth does not change.
And Daas Torah does not bend for convenience.
