https://pixabay.com/photos/quilt-cozy-home-charming-peaceful-716838/
מִלֵּ֨א אֹתָ֜ם חָכְמַת־לֵ֗ב לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֘ כָּל־מְלֶ֣אכֶת חָרָ֣שׁ | וְחשֵׁב֒ וְרֹקֵ֞ם בַּתְּכֵ֣לֶת וּבָֽאַרְגָּמָ֗ן בְּתוֹלַ֧עַת הַשָּׁנִ֛י וּבַשֵּׁ֖שׁ וְאֹרֵ֑ג עֹשֵׂי֙ כָּל־מְלָאכָ֔ה וְחֽשְׁבֵ֖י מַֽחֲשָׁבֹֽת:
“He filled her heart with wisdom to do all kinds of work, to work for the weaver in blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, and for the weaver to do all kinds of work and to devise every design” ( Shemot 35:35 ).
Translated by Balbino Cotarelo Núñez
To read this post in English, click here
QUESTION— Austin, Texas
We received a Jewish themed quilt from a relative. Some of the fabric scraps include the Shema including Shem HaShem (the Name of God) written as two yodim as well as Elohenu letter by letter. Does this make it shemot ? Does the quilt have to go in the genizah , or at least these squares? Can it be used in the bedroom where there may be naked people occasionally? I don’t know how the fabric was made. It wasn’t hand painted, but I don’t know what technique it was printed or dyed with. There is a similar product online that claims to be 100% cotton.
ANSWER
The two yodim do not mean anything. It is an invention of the manufacturer, a way of not writing Shem HaShem . Regarding Elohenu , it is a problem, at least if one is going to have intimate relations in the same room. See Shulchan Aruch OJ 240:6 and the related Mishnah Berurah portion .
שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות קריאת שמע ותפילה של ערבית סימן רמ
בית שיש בו ספר תורה או חומשים העשוים בגלילה, אסור לשמש בו עד שיהיה בפניו מחיצה. (ולענין לעשותה בשבת ע”ל ריש סי’ שט”ו), ואם יש לו בית אחר, אסור עד שיוציאנו; ואם יש בו תפילין או ספרים, אפי’ של גמרא, אסור עד שיתנם בכלי בתוך כלי.One should not have intimate relations in a home that has a sefer Torah or individual books of Torah written on parchment, unless there is a mechitzah in front of it… and if one has another home, one should bring the sefer Torah to that home; and if the home contains tefillin or sefarim , including the Talmud, one should wrap it in a double layer.
משנה ברורה סימן רמ ס”ק
(כח) או ספרים – ר”ל כ”ד ספרי קודש ומיירי שאינם ( כט
) אפילו של גמרא – ר”ל אף על גב דגמ’ לא ניתן לכתוב בדורות הראשונים משום דדברים שבע”פ אסור לאומרם בכתב אפ”ה כיון דלבסוף התירו האמוראים לכתוב משום עת לעשות לה’ “” יש בהן קדושה [פמ”ג]:(28) “O sefarim ” – the intention is that it refers to sacred writings that are not written on parchment, since they follow the rules of the sefer Torah .
(29) “including the Talmud” – the intention is that even though in the early generations the Talmud was not written, since it was not permitted to write down the oral law, still, since in the end the Amoraim permitted its writing… they are like all the sifre kodesh and today the norm is that all sefarim, whether handwritten or printed, are considered sacred.
If it is a Torah sefer or pesukim written on klaf , it needs to be behind a mechitzah . If it is a Talmud, or any sefer of a similar type, it needs to be inside a two-layered wrapper. I think the name of God could definitely be in this second category.
If the concept only applies to being naked and not to having intimate relations, this is less problematic, although when it comes to God’s name (rather than a sefer ), one must be strict – see the Rama ( Shulchan Aruch OJ 275:12 ) regarding the nerot Shabbat (although it is not exactly the same case),
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 there, one should not enter with tefillin or holy writings since one cannot be naked before God.
The issue of being naked before the Name of God comes from Shabbat 120b , and is indeed an isur , but in a case like the one at hand, where it is printed or not handwritten, I don’t think it is technically prohibited, although it should definitely be avoided.
Daf of the Day
