Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version nyu B notes v1.5 12/10/84; site csd2.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!csd2!meth From: meth@csd2.UUCP (Asher Meth) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Dvar Torah : Achare-Kedoshim Message-ID: <3780047@csd2.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-May-85 18:58:00 EDT Article-I.D.: csd2.3780047 Posted: Thu May 9 18:58:00 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 12-May-85 00:06:10 EDT References: <136@erc3ba.UUCP> Organization: New York University Lines: 98 hello, avi. i wanted to send you a copy of an article posted by dave sherman a while back, concerning the writing and erasing of shemos on a computer terminal/disk/etc. this is being sent in light of your recent dvar torah (acharei-mos/kedoshim; yeyasher kochacho on this article, and on the idea in gerenal), in which you included full spellings of shemos and kinuyim. i, for one, have been printing the divrei torah, to keep as a personal copy. in fact, i often will not even spend the time to read them on the terminal, but wait until later, on paper. there may be many others who also save and print these divrei torah. it was not until i was reading my printed copy that i noticed the above-mentioned full spellings. this may create a problem of shemos and mechikas shemos, especially for those not aware of the problem. they may read it and throw it away after a short time. sooooooooooooooooo, i'm adding on (after the -----------------) the article written by dave sherman, posted to net.religion (before net.religion.jewish existed). happy reading. p.s. i'm looking for a job this summer, and don't know yet where i'll be working. i don't even know if i'll be on a machine connected to the net. in any case, i don't see myself being able to commit myself to contributing divrei torah over the summer. about next year, we'll see then. you can still send me the list of who's writing when, anyway, if you wish. kol tuv. a gutten shabbos. ----------------------------------------- From hogpc!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!duke!decvax!linus!utzoo!utcsrgv!dave Thu Aug 4 12:59:13 1983 Subject: destroying holy names written on disk - a Rabbi's answer Newsgroups: net.religion A few weeks ago I posted an article about the origin of "Amen" in which I mused over the problem of destroying sacred names which are "written" in digital form. I got a number of replies by mail which expressed interest in hearing the answer, so here it is for the net: I spoke with Rabbi David Schochet, who is the senior Rabbi (the "Rav") of the Lubavitch community in Toronto. (Lubavitchers are Orthodox Jews who follow particular teachings and a particular way of life; they are fully observant of halachah, Jewish religious law.) Rabbi Schochet's answer can be summarized as follows: 1. The translation or transliteration of a holy name into English is not the same as the original, but it is still holy, and, if written on paper, should not be destroyed. One should write "G-d" instead. 2. "Writing" on disk is not the same as making a writing ("k'sivah"). Therefore, it is permissible to destroy a holy name (in Hebrew or English) which is written on disk. However, one should not erase simply the name itself; one should do so only when destroying/erasing the entire document or paragraph. 3. Records (the record-player type), audio tapes and magnetic tape fall into the same category as disks. They are not k'sivah. (Thus, a tape of someone reciting prayers with sacred names can be destroyed.) Microfilm, however, is k'sivah, even though you may need a special reader or microscope to read the writing. 4. If you are creating a file on disk and put a holy name into it, it is not your reponsibility if someone chooses to run it off onto hardcopy and then destroy the hardcopy. The same goes for sending someone private mail, if you know they will be reading the mail on a screen rather than hardcopy terminal. 5. When posting news, you can be pretty sure someone out there will be reading the news either with a hardcopy terminal (does anyone actually do this? I'd like to hear) or via "readnews -p" to the line printer. Accordingly, you should not put holy names into news because they will certainly be printed on paper and then destroyed as a result of your actions. 6. Even when sending private mail, it is better to use hyphens so that you are not spelling out the name in full, to be safer and out of respect for the holiness of what you are writing. However, as outlined in #4 above, it is not prohibited to spell out the full name. Hope this was useful to some of you. (It's a change from unc!tim vs. Christianity, anyway.) Dave Sherman Toronto -- {linus,cornell,watmath,ihnp4,floyd,allegra,utzoo,uw-beaver}!utcsrgv!dave ----------------------------------------------------- Asher Meth ....... meth@nyu-csd2.arpa ....... allegra!cmcl2!csd2!meth