Walk Humbly with Your G-d
My esteemed father, Rabbi Moshe Aharon Pinto zy"a, conducted himself exactly as he taught others to lead their lives. He never asked anyone to take upon themselves any aspect of mitzvah observance which he himself did not excel in, including the matter of guarding his eyes.
Abba zy"a is famous for not leaving his home for forty years, at the command of his father. Even when eventually he did leave his home, he always kept his eyes glued to the ground.
About five years before his passing, we travelled together to Morocco and stopped over in Marseille where we spent Shabbat. Walking to the nearest Beit Knesset would take an hour and a half. At that time Abba suffered from a fracture in his leg and it was very hard for him to walk; despite this, he paid no attention to our request that he remain at home. He explained that since he had already told the community leaders he would visit them, it was considered like an oath and he must keep his word despite the challenge.
Throughout the one and a half hour walk, Abba kept his eyes focused on the ground and did not look up even once. When someone asked him, "How do you manage not to pick up your eyes at all?" He answered modestly, "Now during the summer the streets may be fouled by dog's mess, therefore I keep looking down so as not to filthy my legs. I wish to arrive in a clean state to the Beit Haknesset."
In truth, with this answer Abba was evading the real issue – the extent to which he guarded his eyes when passing through streets full of immodesty. Yet due to his humility, Abba wished to hide his good deeds from others, thereby fulfilling the command "Walk humbly with your G-d."
