Rav Henoch Leibowitz Explains Da'as Torah

I recall one day in blatt shiur the rosh yeshiva walked in with a copy of the current issue of the Jewish Observer instead of a Gemara. We knew that there would be no “learning” that day. The topic of the article that the rosh yeshiva wished to discuss was in fact da’as Torah. The rosh yeshiva read the appropriate parts of the article and lamented the fact that the true understanding of what da’as Torah is has been lost nowadays. After all, why should a Torah scholar be consulted regarding matters that are not Torah in nature? If you have a question in halachah, a gadol can decide that; for other matters, shouldn’t one look elsewhere?

The article mentioned a few reasons why a gadol’s opinion should be valued on non-Torah matters. The first is that deep analytical Torah learning makes a person wise. A sage who has been learning for many years perhaps can be the best individual to analyze a complex problem. The second is that every person has personal negiyos, or subconscious motivational factors that cause him to skew his view of the problem in a way that best helps him personally. A righteous sage is best able to overcome these negiyos and offer an honest opinion. The third is that Hashem offers Divine assistance to those who fear Him to render the appropriate ruling.