Q:
You said we should greet people with a sever ponim yafos. But if a person always looks at people passing by won’t he be nichshal in shemiras ha’einayim, in watching his eyes?
A:
So let me explain it to you. When men pass by you should look and greet them. Women, you don’t look.
If the woman happens to be a close person; once when I was walking by and all of a sudden a lady says, “Pa, don’t you see me?” It was my daughter.
Once I was walking in the street and young woman accosted me, a lady pushing a baby carriage. She said “Zeida, you want to see your grandchildren?” It was a granddaughter with a great-grandchild. So ordinarily it’s their business; if they’re relatives they’ll accost you, if it’s a woman that you know.
Otherwise, you just look at men and make it your business to be nice to all the men you see in the street. If a woman will say anything to you, be nice to her too by all means.
So the question is solved like this: when you see a pair of pants look up and see the face.
TAPE # 970 (July 1994)
