The Shu”t Yaskil Avdi (Vol. 5, Even HaEzer 23) was asked by someone who had an illness in his eyes, if he was allowed to allow a woman to put certain ointments in his eyes? Similarly, he was asked, if one is allowed to travel on transport where there will certainly be lots of women and one will end up having to violate the issur of walking behind a woman etc.? He was also asked if a man sees a young girl fall on the street and she is not in a dangerous situation, and if one doesn’t pick her up there will be a chillul Hashem, if one is allowed to pick her up? He was also asked, if a man is allowed to help an old lady cross the road by holding her hand?
He answers: This shailah is very common and comes up the entire time, especially in hospitals when most of the workers who help out are kind merciful women, who help out both publicly and privately. They pass men potties to excuse themselves in, they pass them thermometers to measure temperature etc. all these things are normally done with the help of a woman.
The Yaskil Avdi starts his Teshuvah by quoting what he writes in Vol. 4 (in his Kuntros Sheilas Shalom, Even HaEzer, siman 2), regarding the minhag of women kissing the hand of the rov. There he quotes the Oid Yosef Chai (הגאון רי''ח טוב זצ''ל) who maintains that it’s obvious that a woman may kiss the hand of the rov, as it is not done out of chibah [love and affection] and it is clearly being done for kavod haTorah, and they intend to do a mitzvah similar to that of kissing a sefer Torah, and since they have intention leshem Shomayim [sake of Heaven], there is no issue, neither for the Chacham or for the woman.
At the end of his words he writes: The reason we don’t use a woman to carry out jobs according to the Rambam and the Tur is because of hirhur, it leads to bad thoughts, therefore, if one’s intention is not due to chibah, but for some other reason, there is no problem. This is why the Rema (Even HaEzer 21:5) writes that the minhag is to be lenient. According to this, in the case of using a woman to put ointment in a sick person’s eyes, since it isn’t done out of chibah, but rather for the sake of healing, there is no issue.
The Yaskil Avdi then addresses his other shailos of traveling on public transport, picking up the fallen girl and helping the old lady. He says: Since it’s not done out of chibah it should be ok. Regarding the question of using public transport he writes: Certainly, if one keeps his eyes to himself, and doesn’t look at everything, especially if he constantly has on his lap a sefer Tehillim, or some other sefer he uses and learns from during the journey, certainly the zechus [merit] of Torah, will protect him from having bad thoughts.
The Yaskil Avdi then says: It’s impossible to give a clear ruling on this, as each person is different, and for each person it depends on his make-up and personality, and one must act according to what is best for him.
