https://pixabay.com/photos/quilt-cozy-home-charming-peaceful-716838/
Translated by Rabbi Émile Ackermann
To read this post in English, click here
מִלֵּ֨א אֹתָ֜ם חָכְמַת-לֵ֗ב לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֘ כָּל-מְלֶ֣אכֶת חָרָ֣שׁ | וְחשֵׁב֒ וְרֹקֵ֞ם בַּתְּכֵ֣לֶת וּבָֽאַרְגָּמָ֗ן בְּתוֹלַ֧עַת הַשָּׁנִ֛י וּבַשֵּׁ֖שׁ וְאֹרֵ֑ג עֹשֵׂי֙ כָּל-מְלָאכָ֔ה :
“He has given them the skill to do every work of the craftsman, of the artist, of the embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen, of the weaver, in short of all craftsmen and ingenious artists” (Shemot 31:13).
QUESTION —Northwest, USA
We received a quilt with Jewish designs from a relative. Some of the printed designs represent the Shema, including Sheim HaShem (the name of God) spelled with two yodim, as well as Elokeinu in full. Is this sheimot? Does the quilt have to be placed in the genizah, or at least these tiles? Can it be used on a bed in a room where one will be naked from time to time? I don’t know how the fabric is made. It wasn’t hand-painted, but I don’t know how it was printed or dyed. A similar product online is simply listed as “100% cotton.”
ANSWER
Two yodim do not mean anything. This is a printer’s convention, a way of not writing Sheim HaShem. As for Elokeinu, this is a problem, at least if it is possible for one to have marital relations in the same room. See Shulchan Arukh OC 240:6 and the Mishnah Berurah related to it.
שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות קריאת שמע ותפילה של ערבית סימן רמ
אורה או חומשים העשוים בגלילה שיהיה בפניו מחיצה. () שיוציאנו ; ואם יש בו תפילין או ספרים, אפי’ של גמרא, אסור עד שיתנם בכלי בתוך כלי.
It is forbidden to have marital relations in a house that contains a sefer Torah or individual books of the Torah written on parchment scrolls, unless there is a mechitzah in front of it… and if he has another house, he must move the sefer Torah to that house; and if the house contains tefillin or sefarim, including the Gemara, he must put them in a double container.
(כח) או ספרים – ר “ל כ “ד ספרי קודש ומיירי שאינם עשויין בגלילה דאי :
כט) ן האמוראים ” [פמ “ג]:
(28) “Or sefarim” – the intention is the holy books that are not written on parchment, because they have the rule of a sefer Torah.
(29) “including the Gemara” – the intention is that, even though in the early generations the Gemara was not written, since the Oral Law was not allowed to be written, even so, since in the end the Amoraim allowed them to be written… they are like all the sifrei kodesh and nowadays the rule is that all sefarim, whether handwritten or printed, are considered holy.
If it is a Torah scroll or pesukim written on klaf, it should be placed behind a mechitzah. If it is a Gemara or any other sefer of the same type, it should be placed in a double container. I think that the name of God falls into the latter category.
If it is simply a matter of being naked and not having marital relations, this is less of a problem, although when it is a matter of God’s name (as opposed to a sefer) one must be strict – see Rema ( Shulchan Arukh OC 275:12 ) regarding neirot Shabbat (not exactly the same thing),
נהגו לכסות הקטנים שלא יהיו ערומים בפני הנרות, משום ביזוי מצוה. וכ “כ הרוקח.
The custom is to cover small children so that they are not naked in front of the candles, for fear of disrespecting the mitzvah.
And see, more specifically, Mishnah Berurah 45:5 ,
אבל אם יש שם אדם ערום אסור לכנס בה בתפילין וכתבי הקודש דאסור לעמוד לפני השם ערום.
But if someone is naked, one cannot enter with tefillin or sacred writings, because one cannot stand naked before God.
The issue of standing naked before God’s name is from Shabbat 120b , and it is in fact an issur, but in a case like ours where it is printed and not written, I don’t think it would technically be forbidden, although it should certainly be avoided.
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