I just heard an excellent shiur from Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Bregman given during Chol Hamoed Pesach. Our Gedolim of today are given the position of Shofet (Judge) of our time and we must listen to them. Even though our gedolim of our generation are of a different caliber than the gedolim of the yesteryear, however, they have been chosen to perfectly handle the unique situations of our times. Even though we disagree with some of their rulings, it is not because they rule wrongly, it's because we don't have the foresight to see what they can see. Our gedolim are giants in Torah, and G-d fearing, and in order for them to be able to answer our specific questions, we must first have Emunas Chachamim (faith of the Sages). Absent of such faith, due to our lacking, we will be unable to acquire Hashem's help in giving us the appropriate teshuva (answer) for our specific questions transmitted through the Gadol.
Rabbi Bregman discusses the situation that many blame on our Gedolim during the Holocaust, that when they were approached by their followers if they should flee Europe to some other continent, and the answer they received was to stay put in Europe, which led to their demise in the death camps. Many Rabbis of today blame our Gedolim for that, including the Zionists Rabbis, whom I shall not name, but know personally, as well as laypeople who claim to know more about Hashem's plan for the world than Hashem does. The answer is, according to a source in the shiur, that when Hashem has decided to bring forth His wrath against the Jews, there's no escape. We can learn from history through the destruction of our Bais HaMikdash, not once, but twice. Similarly, the Holocaust is another example of Hashem's wrath against the Jews, in which we all have to pay the price, because we are one body, responsible for one another. There's no difference today. We continue to be terrorized, by different enemies in different countries, because Hashem permits it, in order to bring about our teshuva. There's no escape. If we cannot see the truth, and our Gedolim can, it's because we are blind and rebellious. The more we continue to rebel, the more we suffer. It's the same story every time. When will it end? When we all do teshuva.
IMHO, there's really no reason to dwell on Moshiach issues, because if he hasn't yet come, it's because we are not ready for him, and we still have a lot to do. If we cannot listen to our Gedolim, we will certainly not be able to listen to Moshiach either.
To listen to the shiur, click here.
