anon for this – “who knows how much greater those Roshei Yeshiva would’ve been if their pure neshomos had not been tainted by…”
That’s like saying: How much greater would Rav Aharon Kotler or Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky have been if they had not read classical literature in their younger years or how much greater would the Lubavitcher Rebbe or Rav Hutner have been had they not studied in the university. Or how much greater would Moshe Rabeinu have been had he not been raised by Pharoh’s daughter.
It’s silly.