Welcome - move around (if tired) - ask for stories of greetings. Do you have anything to say about pre-davening practices AND/OR general greeting practices?
גופא א"ר יהושע בן לוי שלשה דברים עשו ב"ד של מטה והסכימו ב"ד של מעלה על ידם [אלו הן] מקרא מגילה ושאילת שלום [בשם] והבאת מעשר
§ With regard to the matter itself, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: There are three matters that the earthly court implemented and the heavenly court agreed with them, and these are they: Reading the Scroll of Esther on Purim, and greeting another with the name of God, and bringing the first tithe to the Temple treasury in Jerusalem. From where is it derived that the heavenly court agreed with them?
We greet people (made in God's image) with God's name, esp. a name signifying wholeness/completeness
This is something WE instituted & God/heavenly beit din agreed to (!) -- human-centred/humanist?
Ruth link to Shavuot
(א) הָיָה קוֹרֵא בַתּוֹרָה, וְהִגִּיעַ זְמַן הַמִּקְרָא, אִם כִּוֵּן לִבּוֹ, יָצָא. וְאִם לָאו, לֹא יָצָא. בַּפְּרָקִים שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד וּמֵשִׁיב, וּבָאֶמְצַע שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַיִּרְאָה וּמֵשִׁיב, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בָּאֶמְצַע שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַיִּרְאָה, וּמֵשִׁיב מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, בַּפְּרָקִים שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, וּמֵשִׁיב שָׁלוֹם לְכָל אָדָם:
(1) If one was reading [Shema] in the Torah, and it came time to recite [Shema]: If he directed his mind [and intended to fulfill his obligation to recite Shema as he read it], he has fulfilled his obligation. And if not, he has not fulfilled his obligation. At the breaks [between sections of Shema], one may greet another out of honor and return a greeting, and in the middle [of a section], one may greet out of fear and return a greeting. These are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: In the middle, one may greet out of fear and return a greeting out of honor, and at the breaks, one may greet out of honor and return a greeting to any person.
Balance obligation/nice-thing-to-do-ness of greeting others w/ obligation of saying Shema -- surprisingly lenient on Shema (or perhaps surprisingly strict on greetings), in a way that doesn't seem to show up in popular practice (at least that I've seen)
Greeting people vs greeting God (tho' not greeting Him per se - acknowledging? paying homage to?)
This is v much taken out of context but I picked it cos it really weights the other side of this dynamic, towards being stringent about greeting God (or perhaps lenient about greeting people)
Like, God owns yr first greeting of the day (like first-fruits/tithe?) but AFTER that then you can greet @ will -- but if you give God's greeting to someone else that's v bad
(ב) כיון שהגיע זמן תפלה אסור לאדם להקדים לפתח חבירו ליתן לו שלום משום דשמו של הקב"ה שלום אבל מותר לומר לו צפרא דמרי טב ואפי' זה אינו מותר אלא כשהוצרך ללכת לראות איזה עסק אבל אם אינו הולך אלא להקביל פניו קודם תפלה אפי' זה הלשון אסור וכן אסור לכרוע לו כשמשכים לפתחו וי"א דכריעה אסורה אפי' בלא משכים לפתחו ואם התחיל לברך הברכות (אחר כך) אין לחוש כל כך ואם אינו משכים לפתחו אלא שפגע בו בדרך מותר ליתן לו שלום וי"א שאפי' במוצא חבירו בשוק לא יאמר לו אלא צפרא דמרי טב כדי שיתן לב שהוא אסור להתעכב בדברים אחרים כלל עד שיתפלל:
(2) When it reachs the time of prayer, it's forbidden for a person to arrive early to the door of their friend to greet them (lit. "give them a 'shalom'"), since the name of the Holy Blessed One is "Shalom". But it's permitted to say to them "Good morning, sir" (tzafra d'mari tav). And even this is only allowed when one needs to go to see to a matter of business, but if one is only going to make their face known [to their friend, i.e. for a purely social purpose] before prayer, even this is forbidden language. And it's also forbidden to bow to them when one gets up early to go to their door, and there are those that say that the bow is forbidden even when you don't get up early to their door. And if one has finished saying the morning blessings (after this) there's no concern with any of this. And if you don't get up early to go to their door, but rather you encounter them on the street, it's permitted to greet them (with "shalom"), and there are those that say that even if one meets one's friend in the marketplace one should only say to them "Good morning, sir", since this reminds(? lit. "gives heart") that it's forbidden to cause to stumble in other words at all until one has prayed.