![]() This interment prevents degradation of the sacred objects and provides an appropriate last rite of honor. The sages further declared that receptacles that contain sacred scrolls ( tashmishei kedusha), such as tefillin and mezuzot boxes, also require burial, albeit not in an earthenware vessel (OC 254:3). If a Torah scroll becomes worn beyond use, the sages ordained its burial ( geniza) in an earthenware vessel, thereby delaying its inevitable disintegration ( Megila 26b). Many scholars deem names of God in foreign languages as nonsacred and therefore erasable, thereby making it permissible to spell God without a hyphen (G-d), despite popular practice ( Shach YD 179:11). God's name includes the four-letter Tetragrammaton (YHWH) and other titles including Adonai and Shaddai, but not descriptive names of God, such as "the merciful one" ( rahum) (Yesodei Hatorah 6:1). This biblical prohibition encompasses destroying sacred objects, like elements of the Holy Temple and God's name ( Makot 32a). The Torah demands that one should not destroy a holy item as he would a foreign idol (Deuteronomy 12:4). The value of preserving sacred texts, furthermore, occasionally conflicts with contemporary societies that advocate that everything is recyclable (environmentalism) while concomitantly displaying that everything is disposable (consumerism). In all seriousness, the proper disposal of used religious literature has become an acute problem, as computer printing has multiplied the number of publications beyond precedent. (function (a, d, o, r, i, c, u, p, w, m) (document) Ī: I admit, I am slightly insulted that you don't keep these columns for posterity, but I will assume that you rely on the archives. Ask the Rabbi: Discarding religious literature - The Jerusalem Post
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