Sheimos Guidelines

By: Rabbi Moshe Heinemann

According to the Torah, holy objects may not be discarded by throwing them directly into the trash. Some objects always have kedusha and must be placed in sheimos. Other objects gain kedusha once they are used for a mitzvah and need to be treated with special care.

SHEIMOS

Objects which have innate holiness, kedusha, are sheimos. This means that when discarded they must be wrapped in plastic and buried. The following objects are included in this category:
1. A Sefer Torah
2. Sefer Torah covers
3. Tefillin, tefillin bags, mezuzos and mezuzah covers
4. Siddurim and bentchers
5. Seforim, whether handwritten, printed, photocopied or downloaded and printed (e.g., Chumashim, siddurim, machzorim, seforim, Gemara, Shulchan Aruch, etc.)
6. A quote from Tanach, Chazal, Rishonim or Achronim, that has been printed or written with the intention of explaining Torah, or to teach us how to conduct ourselves according to hashkafos haTorah
7. Invitations from organizations and individuals that contain parts of pesukim. However, if the words of the posuk are merely being quoted in order to make the sentence sound more eloquent and not to convey Torah they are not sheimos. This type of usage of a posuk is called a melitza. For example, the phrase “kol sason ve’kol simcha,” frequently included in wedding invitations, is a melitza and is not sheimos.*
8. Three consecutive words of a posuk from Tanach that have been written in one line, with the intention of quoting Tanach (as opposed to a melitza, which is not sheimos).*
9. Any paper or material on which is written one of the names of Hashem. However, the Hebrew letters IY”H (im yirtzeh Hashem), BE”H (b’ezras Hashem), and B”H (baruch Hashem) may be discarded according to halacha and Jewish custom, although it is considered an act of piety to tear off those letters and put them into sheimos. The Hebrew letters BS”D (b’siyata d’shmaya) may definitely be put into the trash.*
10. Pages of a sefer that became detached, or parts of the pages of a sefer, even if there is no writing or print on them.
11. A sefer’s cover that has been removed from the sefer
12. Binding tape that became detached from a sefer
13. Parsha papers, test papers, limudei kodesh homework and notes are sheimos if they fall into any of the above categories.
14. Letters or printed material in English of any other non-Hebrew language are sheimos if they conform to the above stipulations. However, letters or printed material in the Hebrew language are not sheimos if they do not conform with one of these specifications.

OBJECTS THAT WERE USED FOR A MITZVAH

Objects which were used for a mitzvah, although they have no kedusha (innate holiness), may not be thrown directly into the garbage. One may burn them or wrap them in plastic and then discarded. The following objects are included in this category:

  1. S’chach of a sukkah
  2. Tallis
  3. Tzitzis strings
  4. Tallis bag
  5. Esrogim, lulavim, hadasim, aravos

NOT SHEIMOS

The following objects have no kedusha and can be discarded. These items do not need to be wrapped:

  1. Yarmulke or gartel
  2. Bookmark which was used in a sefer
  3. Outer plastic bag which was used to protect a tallis or tefillin bag
  4. Pictures of gedolim

NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND TAPES

Newspapers and magazines which contain secular information should not be placed in sheimos as they degrade the real sheimos that are buried with them, especially if the advertisements and pictures are not within the spirit of Torah. The pages that do contain Torah may be removed and placed in sheimos if the other side of that page also contains Torah or is blank.

Alternatively, the entire newspaper may be put into a bag which should then be put into another bag so that the paper is double wrapped, known as kli besoch kli. It can then be placed into the garbage or into recycling.

Missionary material that contain pesukim may be burnt or double wrapped and discarded.

Tapes and CD’s containing divrei Torah and shiurim may be disposed of after they have been double wrapped in plastic.

PDF OF SHEIMOS CHART

For a handy printable summary of these halachos, see the STAR-K Sheimos Guidelines chart available on our site.

* In the above cases, the sheimos or divrei Torah may be cut away from the paper and buried if desired.