Question

A personal-public question.
I have a neighbor who is a Torah scholar and a well-known rabbi.
He publishes many books on matters of Jewish law, aggadic literature, conduct, responsa, and the like, and teaches in a yeshiva in Jerusalem.
In his books he repeatedly brings odd things from old books [Hasidut and stories of Hasidic masters…], and when I read them I wonder: when he writes this, is he bursting with laughter [after all, he is an intelligent person with both feet on the ground] and enjoying trolling… [even though these are Torah books and his name and honor are signed to them, and this is how he is known publicly], or is there some kind of innocence mixed with foolishness in him..?
When I try to talk to him about it, he smiles, but it is hard to tell whether he is laughing all the way to the bank [you don’t make money from selling books] or whether it amuses him but in his eyes it is absolute truth…
 
For example: a righteous man who meets Abraham our Patriarch at the Western Wall wearing a shtreimel, a gartel, and a kapoteh, and based on that one can decide whether one needs to wear a shtreimel on Isru Chag… all kinds of bizarre things like that, things that really provoke laughter…
This keeps recurring again and again in his books. Nonsense like this, and things even funnier than this…
 
There is a practical implication for me. He is my neighbor, and he answers questions in Jewish law humbly for anyone who asks…
That’s convenient.
The question is whether one can rely on his judgment.
It should be noted that aside from the above issue, he speaks wisely and calmly on every topic.