{"id":4476,"date":"2017-01-10T17:26:10","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T17:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/?p=4476"},"modified":"2025-02-26T20:27:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T20:27:46","slug":"sheimos-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/kashrus-kurrents\/4476\/sheimos-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheimos Guidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Updated June 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\" align=\"right\"><a style=\"background:#057594;\" href=https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sheimos-guidelines.pdf class=\"button\" download=\"\">Download PDF of Chart Here <\/a><\/div><br>\n\n\n\n<p>The Torah forbids discarding objects with innate kedusha (holiness) into the trash or recycling bin. Objects which have innate <em>kedusha <\/em>must be placed in <em>sheimos<\/em>, which must be buried. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Objects that acquire <em>kedusha<\/em> after being used for a mitzvah do not need to be placed in <em>sheimos <\/em>but do need to be disposed of with special sensitivity. This is discussed further below.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SHEIMOS: Disposing of Objects with Kedusha<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The following objects are included in this category:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Any of the names of Hashem<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Sefer Torah<\/em> or <em>Sefer Torah<\/em> cover<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Seforim<\/em>, whether handwritten, printed, photocopied, or downloaded and printed (e.g., <em>Chumashim, Siddurim, Machzorim, <\/em>Gemara<em>, Shulchan Aruch<\/em>, etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bentchers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pages of a <em>sefer<\/em> that became detached or fragments of a <em>sefer<\/em>, even if there is no writing or print on them<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <em>sefer\u2019s<\/em> cover that has been removed from the <em>sefer<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Binding tape that became detached from a <em>sefer<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Printed material primarily intended to quote or explain Torah, even when containing non-Torah portions. This includes Mishna, Midrash, Gemara, Rishonim or Acharonim, and any three consecutive words of a <em>posuk <\/em>from Tanach that have been written on one line, with the intention of quoting Torah (as opposed to a <em>melitza<\/em><a href=\"#star\">*<\/a> which is not <em>sheimos<\/em>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Homework and test papers in <em>limudei kodesh<\/em> subjects when containing any of the the above<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Material written or printed in English or any other language if they conform with the above (material written or printed in Hebrew are not <em>sheimos<\/em> if they do not conform with the above)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Halachic and other Torah material (such as this article)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tefillin or tefillin bag<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mezuzah or mezuzah cover<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invitations from organizations or individuals that contain parts of <em>pesukim<\/em>, written with the intention of quoting Torah \u2013 as opposed to a <em>melitza, <\/em>which are often included in wedding invitations<a href=\"#star\">*<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NOT SHEIMOS: Disposing of Objects That Were Used for a Mitzvah<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Items that are not considered <em>sheimos <\/em>according to the above-noted rules but which were used for a mitzvah may still require sensitive handling before discarding, either by double or single wrapping. Refer to the guidelines below for which items belong in which category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Items that should be double-wrapped: <em>Kli Besoch Kli<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Items listed below should be double-wrapped when placing into the trash (but can be single-wrapped when placing into a recycling bin):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jewish newspapers, magazines, novels and biographies with primarily non-Torah content. These items should not be placed in <em>sheimos<\/em> as they degrade the real <em>sheimos<\/em> that are buried with them, especially if the advertisements and pictures are not within the spirit of Torah. (Any pages that do contain Torah may be removed and placed in <em>sheimos<\/em> if the other side of that page also contains Torah or is blank.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Missionary material that contain <em>pesukim<\/em> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Items that should be single-wrapped<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Items listed below should be single-wrapped before placing into the trash:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Talis, talis bag, tzitzis &#8211; it is praiseworthy to remove the strings of a talis or tzitzis and place them in <em>sheimos<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Gartel<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Schach<\/em> of a sukkah<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Arba minim: esrogim, lulavim, hadasim, aravos<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tapes and CDs containing <em>divrei Torah<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NOT SHEIMOS: Disposing of Objects Without Kedusha<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The following objects have no <em>kedusha <\/em>and can be discarded directly into the trash or recycling bin. These items do not need to be wrapped at all:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Plastic case that was used to protect a <em>talis<\/em> or <em>tefilin<\/em> bag<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Hebrew letters BS&#8221;D (<em>b&#8217;siyata d&#8217;Shmaya<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Hebrew letters IY\u201dH<em> (im yirtzeh Hashem), <\/em>BE\u201dH<em> (b\u2019ezras Hashem), <\/em>and<em> <\/em>B\u201dH<em> (baruch Hashem)<\/em>, although it is considered an act of piety to tear off those letters and place them in <em>sheimos<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yarmulka<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bookmark that was used in a <em>sefer<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pictures of <em>gedolim<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Books, newspapers or any other printed media in Hebrew that are completely secular<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>* A phrase is considered a <em>melitza <\/em>when words of a <em>posuk<\/em> are quoted not to convey Torah but simply to make a sentence sound more eloquent. It is also an incidental use of a common expression. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated June 2024<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"background:#057594;\" href=https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sheimos-guidelines.pdf class=\"button\" download=\"\">Download PDF of Chart Here <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Torah forbids discarding objects with innate kedusha (holiness) into the trash or recycling bin. Objects which have innate kedusha must be placed in sheimos, which must be buried. <\/p>\n<p>(Objects that acquire kedusha after being used for a mitzvah do not need to be placed in sheimos but do need to be disposed of with special sensitivity. This is discussed further below.)<\/p>\n<p>SHEIMOS: Disposing of Objects with Kedusha<\/p>\n<p>The following objects are included in this category:<\/p>\n<p>Any of the names of Hashem<\/p>\n<p>Sefer Torah or Sefer Torah cover<\/p>\n<p>Seforim, whether handwritten, printed, photocopied, or downloaded and printed (e.g., Chumashim, Siddurim, Machzorim, Gemara, Shulchan Aruch, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>Bentchers<\/p>\n<p>Pages of a sefer that became detached or fragments of a sefer, even if there is no writing or print on them<\/p>\n<p>A sefer\u2019s cover that has been removed from the sefer<\/p>\n<p>Binding tape that became detached from a sefer<\/p>\n<p>Printed material primarily [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,134,330,27,124,161,135],"tags":[513,512,211,511,510,515,516],"class_list":["post-4476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kashrus-kurrents-2001","category-kashrus-kurrents-2017","category-halachic-guidelines-in-app","category-kashrus-kurrents","category-mitzvos","category-summer-kashrus-kurrents-2001","category-winter-kashrus-kurrents-2017","tag-arba-minim","tag-kli-besoch-kli","tag-schach","tag-shaimos","tag-sheimos","tag-talis","tag-tzitzis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sheimos Guidelines | STAR-K Kosher Certification<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Updated June 2024 Download PDF of Chart Here The Torah forbids discarding objects with innate kedusha (holiness) into the trash or recycling bin. Objects\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/kashrus-kurrents\/4476\/sheimos-guidelines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheimos Guidelines | STAR-K Kosher Certification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Updated June 2024 Download PDF of Chart Here The Torah forbids discarding objects with innate kedusha (holiness) into the trash or recycling bin. 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