Question

Hello Rabbi,
It is well known, for example, the story of Rabbi Elazar and the ugly man in Tractate Taanit. There are other stories in a similar style that appear in the Talmud as well. I’m asking this with the necessary caution, because I am far too insignificant to speak about any of the great Tannaim or Amoraim. And yet I still can’t understand what is said in the Talmud and in various sources that they were much greater than our generation. Was Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach less great in character traits than the Tannaim or the Amoraim? Or the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory? From the Talmud and the Mishnah it seems that back then too there were, here and there, quarrels and insults toward one another. It doesn’t seem, as is often described, that they had nobler character traits than the great Torah figures of later generations. Again, I am far too insignificant compared to the great Tannaim and Amoraim, but I would be glad to hear the Rabbi’s respectful response.