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    THE HALACHOS OF SHAIMOS

    Many people are
    not familiar with the
    halachos of shaimos.
    The problem with the
    volume of shaimos,
    only developed
    fairly recently with
    the advent of cheap,
    commonly utilized
    printing methods. After
    reviewing these halachos one will have
    a clear understanding of what is indeed
    shaimos and how to properly dispose of
    them.
    The posuk tells us that there is a requirement
    upon all of klal yisroel to destroy and break
    any idol, and to remove their names from
    our midst, and one is forbidden to do this
    to Hashem’s name. The issur to destroy
    or break a name of Hashem is called Lo
    Sason Kein L’Shem Elokaycheim.” The
    Gemorah says that included in this issur
    is the prohibition to erase the name of
    Hashem. The Rambam says that whoever
    destroys any of Hashem’s names receives
    malkos. The Chinuch says the reason for this
    mitzvah is in order to come to fear Hashem.
    Whoever is not careful with the kedusha of
    seforim will have to give a din and chesbon
    over it after 120 years.
    If one gives the right respect to something
    which deserves to be buried then Hashem
    will have compassion on us and He will
    make sure that klal yisroel does not get
    destroyed. The Mishnah says if one honors
    the Torah then he will be honored and liked
    by the world.
    There is a big discussion in the poskim if
    something is not hand written but rather
    printed if it has kedusha. The consensus of
    the poskim is that it is equal to being hand
    written.
    The Names of Hashem
    As previously mentioned one is forbidden
    to erase the name of Hashem. Those names
    are:
    שם הויה, אדנות, א-ל, א-לוה, אל-הים, ש-די.,
    צב-אות
    These names are required to be put into
    shaimos. Rachum, Chanun, Hagodel
    Hagibbur are not required to be placed in
    shaimos. There is a dispute if the name of
    Hashem in English (G-d) may be erased.
    The following does not need geniza and one
    may throw items containing these names in
    the garbage. Writing a Daled, Hashem (in
    English or Hebrew), Hakodesh Boruch Hu,
    B’ezras Hashem and writting BS’D (bais
    samach daled). Some are careful and did
    not write a BS’D on top of a letter. Some
    question if writing a kuf instead of a heh

    does not require shaimos, but the minhag
    is to be lenient. There is a dispute in the
    poskim if one writes the letters Bais and Heh
    if they require to be put into shaimos. Some
    were careful about writing these letters on
    top of a letter if they will be thrown away.
    The overwhelming custom is to permit the
    writing of bais and hey on top of a letter even
    if the letter will be thrown away (but not in
    a disgraceful place). This is how the Brisker
    Rav was noheg as well. Writing the name
    Eibishtar is permitted and does not need to
    be put into shaimos. Many say even if one
    breaks up the letters of a name of Hashem
    by placing a hyphen between the letters, it
    still requires geniza, while others are lenient.
    According to the lenient opinion, if one is
    concerned that the writing may end up in
    a disgusting location he should hyphenate
    the name of Hashem (for example G-d).
    Horav Moshe Feinstein zt”l was stringent
    with hyphenated Hashem’s name. When
    writing the numbers in Hebrew of 16 and 17
    the minhag is to write tes vov and tes zayin
    instead of yud heh, and yud vov. (One should
    not say Hashem’s name even in English for
    no reason. When one says “thank G-d” it is
    not considered saying Hashem’s name for
    no reason since it is the derech for people
    to say it and he does not have intention of
    Hashem’s name to be mentioned per ‘se).
    Sending out Papers with Hashem’s Name
    One should not send out advertisements with
    the name of Hashem written on it because
    most people just throw it in the garbage
    without knowing they are not allowed to and
    it comes to a disgrace. Many organizations
    do this and it is not correct. One may do so if
    one is not writing the complete name.
    Tapes/Discs/Computer
    Many times one has tapes with Hashems
    name recorded on it and after a while he
    wants to copy over the tape (or a C.D) in
    order to copy something else on to it. If one
    wants to copy over it he should let a goy do
    it for him or a young child. Some say he
    can do it himself and it is not considered
    erasing Hashems name since there is no
    real substance to the words on the tape.
    Horav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l said other
    Torah should be copied over a Torah tape. If
    there is no posuk or name of Hashem many
    poskim are lenient to erase it. These tapes
    when finished with them may be thrown in
    the garbage. Others say one should wrap
    the tape in a bag prior to throwing it out.
    One should initially try not to record any of
    Hashem’s names on a tape. One is permitted
    to erase the name of Hashem or a posuk that
    is written on a computer screen since it is not
    considered erasing. Divrei Torah written in
    microscopic letters or on microfilm should

    be treated with the same
    kedusha as a regular
    sefer. If one cannot put
    it in shaimos he should
    wrap it in a bag before
    discarding it.
    Seforim
    The Magen Avraham
    says just as a sefer
    Torah which is unusable
    needs to be put into a
    earthenware utensil and
    buried, so too regarding
    seforim. The minhag
    is not like this Magen Avraham. A T’nach,
    Gemorah, Mishnayos, Siddur, Halacha, or
    Mussar sefer that is unusable has to be put
    into shaimos.
    Horav Moshe Feinstien zt”l said an old sefer
    of Torah Sh’bal Peh may be thrown out if
    it becomes unusable (if it does not contain
    the name of Hashem). The reason is because
    Torah Sh’bal Peh only has kedusha if one is
    learning from it. Once the initial use is gone
    one may throw it out. This is a big chiddush
    and he says it is only true if the gedolim in
    Eretz Yisroel would agree with him. The
    gedolim in Eretz Yisroel hold one may not
    rely on this, and chas v’sholom to throw
    an old Gemorah etc in the garbage. Horav
    Moshe zt”l himself never paskined to throw
    out an unusable Gemorah etc. as a matter of
    halacha l’maseh.
    Some say if a new, corrected version of
    a sefer is published, the old one may be
    put into shaimos. One should not place a
    sefer which one does not want to bind into
    shaimos, rather he should see to it that it is
    bound. A bookmark that was used for a sefer
    may be thrown in the garbage. A sefer that
    was never used may be placed in shaimos
    because it does not have kedusha. If a page
    of a Gemorah ripped out and one would not
    use the rest of the Gemorah one may put the
    sefer into shaimos. When the binding of a
    sefer falls off it should be put into shaimos.
    Many times the string that a sefer was bound
    with comes off. These strings require to be
    put into shaimos since they were in the sefer
    for a long period of time it is considered as
    part of the sefer.
    One who writes mareh mekomos on a paper
    which only he can read does not have to be
    placed into shaimos. Some say this refers
    to a sheet which has mareh mekomos for
    a shiur without any halacha or gemorah on
    them.
    Children who come home with Torah sheets
    from Yeshiva should place them in shaimos.
    Others say one can be lenient and place
    them in a plastic bag in the garbage.

    Newspapers
    There are some poskim who wish to suggest
    that just as many hold that the printer’s
    drafts do not need to be placed in shaimos,
    so would be true regarding our journals
    and newspapers. They reason that since
    they are normally thrown out after a short
    period of time one would be able to discard
    them. Others say to wrap it in a bag first.
    Nonetheless, most poskim maintain that one
    may not discard a newspaper containing
    Torah. The publishers have intent for one
    to learn from the Torah in the newspaper.
    Therefore, they are sanctified and a condition
    prior to the printing would not help to rid the
    newspaper of kedusha.
    Therefore, one should rip out the divrei
    Torah in the newspaper and place it in
    shaimos. Although this may seem difficult
    with some papers whose Torah is spread
    throughout the newspaper one will get the
    hang of it eventually.
    Many poskim took strong issue with the fact
    that newspapers contain divrei Torah and
    they say a newspaper is not a place for Torah
    since many treat the Torah in a newspaper
    with disrespect by throwing it out etc.
    In conclusion, on this issue of newspapers,
    you see many people are not careful with
    this and throw out the newspapers with the
    divrei Torah in them. If one is going to throw
    out a newspaper containing divrei Torah
    (without the name of Hashem or a posuk)
    he should wrap it in a bag and then put it
    outside together with the rest of the garbage
    and let the goyim take it away.
    Nonetheless, we are dealing with the honor
    of the Torah, and many poskim maintain that
    one should not throw out the divrei Torah,
    but rather one should place it in shaimos.
    This being the case one should try to do
    whatever he can in order to place the divrei
    Torah in shaimos. When putting the divrei
    Torah in shaimos you should cut it out of
    the paper. It is disrespectful to the shaimos
    if the whole paper is placed in shaimos. One
    should be careful that the divrei Torah part
    of the newspaper is not on the floor.