Reply To: wording to decline a hand shake?

My wife is a baalas tshuva. Her parents are not frum. One of our wedding guests was a chashuva rav associated with the Agudah. My mother-in-law was very impressed when he shook her hand — it was a big kiddush Hashem because it helped her be more accepting of her daughter’s and new son-in-law’s frumkeit.