To alert a person who touched his shoes
Question
I am a young man, 25 years old. I saw a man, approximately 45 years old, touching his shoes and then reciting the blessing of the Cohanim and uttering ‘words of sanctity’ in prayer. Should I alert him to this? Is it not right to reprove an older person? Does he have an authority to rely on?
Answer
Shalom!
It is hard to find someone today who is willing to accept reproof, and it is better not to alert him.
If by chance you know that this is a person who is willing to listen and accept, and you clearly know that you can alert him in a good way, meaning, in a way of learning with him in general, and not as a comment on what he did, try to tell him.
Source
Tractate Arakhin 16b:
Rabbi Tarfon said: I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who accepts reproof. If one says to him: ‘Remove the splinter from between your eyes’, he would say to him: ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes’. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who knows how to reprove.