There is no one explanation as to why leadership by prohibition has replaced leadership by teaching and example. To examine the causes would deflect from the principal point I am trying to make and it might also undermine the principle that irrespective of what we may think about any ban, we are obliged to be obedient.
One factor deserves to be mentioned. In the same way that advances in technology and communication have broken down national barriers, they have created a heightened prospect that every halachic or hashkafic issue affecting the American Orthodox may result in the fervid intervention by Israeli Torah authorities. This is a new development and it was not planned and perhaps could not be anticipated. At the least, this development inadvertently undermines Torah leadership in this country.
There is a dynamic at work and it is hard to imagine there will be a reversal in the short-term of leadership by prohibition. In any case, we need to be obedient and we also need to reflect on what has been wrought.
