I was zocheh to eat by rav sheiner twice during my time in eretz yisroel; my dirah was actually very close to his house…my friend and i worked up the courage to knock on his door, and we were greeted by an einikel. His eniklach don’t speak English for the most part, even though the Rosh Yeshiva spoke very polished. We were led to his study, where he was reclining while learning from a small gemara; he had both a look of menuchas henfesh as well as intensity at the same time… it’s hard to describe. He was very warm and welcoming, asked us where we learned, etc…we were invited to eat by him, which we were very excited to do.
By the seudah, he and his sons/grandsons were talking in learning in rapid fire… throwing out mekoros, kashes, terutzim…real milchamta shel torah. He was suffering from some form of memory loss at the time, and couldn’t recall many mundane things….he also forgot the name of rabbi kook (he said “”the first rav harashi…i can’t think of his name”, while in learning…..shas, poskim, tanach…were all on his fingertips. It was truly remarkable. He answered a very difficult kasha on the parshah without blinking! Seeing him left an indelible impression on me.