My generation seems to have developed a prominent issue: we barely even make eye contact. I'll be walking to class and about to pass a person I've never met. My habit is to make an awkward half smile just to kind of greet that person, but very few people return that. Most ignore it and continue walking.
Today my challenge was to greet everyone. As presented in the book, this actually made the difference between life or death for a rabbi in World War II. I made sure to greet everyone I saw, specifically those I knew, before they greeted me. This worked very well for my professors and peers.
I enjoyed it too! People were generally happy to be greeted and I left the day in a really good, satisfied frame of mind.
"It was said of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai that no person ever greeted him first."
-Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 17a
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