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Comments on Disposing of a Christian bible written in Hebrew?

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Disposing of a Christian bible written in Hebrew?

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While sorting through boxes of books in the attic, I came across a Christian bible written in Hebrew. (Some family member was apparently given it by a missionary when living in Israel and didn't dispose of it then.) The book is only their second volume; it doesn't include Tanakh.

If the book were written in English I would simply recycle (if possible) or discard (otherwise). But this is written in Hebrew, and I have no idea whether their books use the tetragramaton. I could try skimming through it looking for that name, but I could still miss it unless I spend a lot of time on the task. I could put it in the box for burial just in case, but that feels like I'm elevating their book in status.

How have others handled cases of uncertain sheimot in other religions' holy books? In the case of Christianity, are there specific passages to check? (If the book included their adaptation of the Tanakh that would be easy; I know plenty of places to look. But I don't know their works.) Is that nagging feeling I have about the genizah box misplaced, and it's perfectly fine to add anything doubtful regardless of its source?

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General comments (7 comments)
General comments
Harel13‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner has written multiple times that such books should just be tossed out into the trash, without fishing out the holy parts.

Monica Cellio‭ wrote almost 4 years ago · edited almost 4 years ago

@Harel13‭ thanks. If you can cite/link one of those places, that'd make a good answer.

Harel13‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

@MonicaCellio He's often asked this in his weekly responsa which appears in the Dati publication Olam Katan. I'll see if I can find one where he addresses this.

Harel13‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Found it also on his website: ברית חדשה וקוראן ש: מצאתי ברית חדשה וקוראן ורוצה לזרוק לפח. אפשר? ת: ברית חדשה כן, כי זו עבודה זרה (שו"ת אגרות משה יו"ד א קעב). בקוראן, יש גם שם ד' ודברי אמונה, לכן לעטוף טוב ולשים בגניזה (גנזי הקודש קא). Translation: Q. I found an NT and a Koran and want to throw them out. May I? A. The NT, yes, because it's idolatry (Shut Igrot Moshe, Yoreh Deah 1:172). In the Koran there's also the name of Hashem and teachings of Emunah, so you should wrap it and put in the

Harel13‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Genizah (Ginzei Hakodesh 101). http://www.havabooks.co.il/sms.asp?cat=128

Monica Cellio‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

@AA oh. You know that thing that happens sometimes where you're reading an answer, try to upvote it, and find you can't (because you can't vote on your own posts)? I had completely forgotten about that. After Shabbat, B"N, I'll try to adapt that in an answer here.