E.I.E.: I’ve discussed it with multiple Roshei Yeshivos. None of the people you mentioned are close to the top tier. And, yes, we can compare levels – in fact, we need to in order to judge who is an authority in the first place. If you can’t compare levels then how are you to know that someone is a godol? The fact that he is accepted as a godol only means that many people have judged his level to be that of a godol. But if you cannot compare levels, then these people have no right to accept him as a godol in the first place. Part of knowing who to follow is to know who is greater. Godol mimenu b’chochma ubaminyan is an assessment that it legitimately made. And as Rav Shach writes – if you dont know who to follow, follow whoever is greater – and, he adds, you can of course tell who is greater. If you yourself dont know, then thats fine – not everyone can know the answer to all questions they encounter – but why in the world would you say nobody else can know.
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