Shaimos Box

For years Jews have struggled, letting their shaimos pile up, unsure if what they saved were really holy writings that needed to be put away in genizah or buried ritually, often missing the small margin of time when the local shul ran a shaimos collection before Pesach, and then having to keep their shaimos somewhere or other for another 12 months.

Benny Goldstein changed all that for good. Benny, a graphic artist (see his animated Talmud on www.animatedtalmud.com*), located in Chicago introduced the Shaimos Box to Rosenblum’s World of Judaica where it has enjoyed a brisk business for two years. Now he’s going national with the “OU” providing on-site supervision so that the burial is k’halacha.

The program is simplicity itself. You walk into a Hebrew bookstore anywhere in the US and buy a green box. Made of very strong corrugated material, the Shaimos Box measures 12” x 7” x 15”, enough, says Benny, for 20 pounds of shaimos. Put it in a corner of the house and let it fill up. When the box is full, take it to the post office and mail it to the shaimos burial site (address is preprinted on the box).

Once it arrives at the burial location, the “OU” certifies that the care, handling and burial is k’halacha with the actual burial being performed under constant supervision of the “OU”. It’s not a food issue but it is a kosher one and therefore Benny went to the “OU” Kashrus Department to supervise the proper handling of your shaimos.

The “OU” was excited by the idea. For years there was a major problem with shaimos; now there is a solution — the Shaimos Box.

Can’t find a box at your store? Then go online to shaimos.org and order one online. Better yet, tell your store to order some from the distributor, Israel Book Shop, 1-888-536-7427; 1-732-901-3009; fax– 1-732-901-4012. (These numbers are for wholesale only.)

Once you see what the Shaimos Box is and how helpful it will be for you, get your shul, yeshiva, or organization to make a bulk order and resell them in your area. If your organization is running a large activity, contact shaimos.org and maybe they will send down someone to sell the boxes directly to individuals.

Probably the best part of what Benny has done is that he’s given the mitzvah back to us. We are no longer dependent on special shaimos drives in the community. We no longer have to store a number of filled boxes of shaimos until Pesach. Each person can order a box, fill it and mail it away. Then start all over again.

Now if someone can just lick the problem of where to store that huge succah for us.

* Animated Talmud is a new computer program that teaches Talmud through animations. It is currently under development on Chapter Ailu Metziot in Bava Metziah, the most popular introductory chapter. The program was created for 5th or sixth grades, but is engrossing for other ages as well. See it on www.AnimatedTalmud.com

The brainchild of Benny Goldstein, the (“OU”-certified) Shaimos Box will prove invaluable in every Jewish household. Buy several. Give them to your shul, yeshiva, your children and position a few in different locations at home. It will keep your shaimos pile down and teach the importance of dealing with shaimos all 100% “OU” kosher-certified.

Problem Solved:
OU Kosher Extends Expertise to Burial of Sacred Objects with “Shaimos Box”

Solving a problem that has long plagued the Jewish community, the Orthodox Union’s Kashrut (Kosher) Department is lending its expertise to artist Benny Goldstein to help dispose of shaimos -- holy writings and objects -- in a simple and halachic manner (according to Jewish law).

Disposing of shaimos is a concern for Jews. Shaimos are items which are considered to be religiously sacred due to their use of God’s name (shaim means name in Hebrew) and therefore may not be disposed of in garbage, but rather must be buried. In most Jewish communities, shaimos collectors only bury once a year, around Passover time. The rest of the year, the Jewish community is left to its own devices. It is therefore not unusual for a Jewish household to collect piles of shaimos scattered throughout the house. Particularly in an age of printers and photocopying machines, the amount of shaimos a Jewish home accrues can often be excessive.

That problem has been solved with the “Shaimos Box.” The 12” x 7” x 15” utilitarian green box is now available through Judaica stores and ensures that all shaimos will be buried under strict OU rabbinical supervision. When the box is full, it is simply mailed to the burial site at Camp Stone in Sugar Rove, PA – a site specially purchased for the shaimos of the American Jewish community.

To make the box more user-friendly, a brief description of what constitutes shaimos is clearly outlined on the outside of the box. While the box points out that every rabbi may have his own definition, it delineates four categories for shaimos: sacred writings, such as Torah scrolls or tefilin (phylacteries); sacred objects, such as tefilin straps; words of Torah, such as printed or photocopied materials with biblical quotes or verse; and mitzvah objects, such as a tallit (prayer shawl).

First appearing two years ago in Rosenblum’s World of Judaica in Chicago, the Shaimos Box is now selling up to 15 a week, according to Mr. Goldstein. “The OU’s the best for certifying kosher products,” explained Mr. Goldstein. “I wanted the best. It’s as simple as that.”

Now, with the Orthodox Union’s help, the Shaimos Box will attain a higher level of authenticity, helping more people to simplify the mitzva of burying shaimos. “The OU is concerned with all aspects of Jewish life,” explained Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of the OU Kashrut Department. “We see the Shaimos Box as an opportunity for us to extend our expertise to assist the community in all its needs.” According to Rabbi Elefant, the primary role of the OU will be ensuring that the shaimos are buried properly under rabbinic supervision and not discarded improperly.

To find out more about the Shaimos Box, visit their website at www.shaimos.org.

Artist's invention aims to solve longstanding problem of Jewish "trash."

By: TED S. STRATTON Staff Reporter

Benny Goldstein, a sofer stam (scribe) by profession, had a problem. He had two semi-trailers of tattered holy writings and objects sitting in Chicago and no place to bury them.

According to tradition, these items cannot be disposed of as trash, but must be accorded a dignified burial. "The cemeteries wanted a fortune of money" for the burial of the sacred objects, he says. It got so bad, Goldstein admits, that he was praying for God to send him a location to dispose of them.

Enter Yehuda Rothner, director of Camp Stone, the Young Israel/B'nei Akiva summer camp for Cleveland youth. Rothner had been burying shaimos - a catchall term for anything that contains the Holy Name and items used for ritual purposes - annually at a site on the Sugar Grove, Pa., camp. So could he take on a few extra tons of shabby siddurim (prayer books), frayed tallitot (prayer shawls) and busted tefillin? No problem, said Rothner.

His problem solved, Goldstein began thinking of ways to avoid being in such a situation again. Thus was born the idea for the "Shaimos Box." The "box" is a receptacle that ensures that all shaimos (SHAY-mes) will be buried in the right place under strict rabbinical supervision.

"Originally, I came up with a bag," says Goldstein. The only problem with that was people kept mistaking it for a garbage bag, and threw it out with their weekly trash. Not a very good fate for holy writ.

The Shaimos Box is a utilitarian, 12 by 7 by 15-inch cardboard box painted green, "to represent the Earth," says Goldstein. "I wanted it to mark a designated corner in everyone's house."

To make the box more user-friendly, a brief description of what constitutes shaimos is clearly outlined on the outside of the box. It specifies four categories of shaimos: sacred writings, such as Torah and mezuza scrolls; sacred objects, like Torah mantles and tefillin covers; words of Torah, printed or photocopied materials with biblical quotes or verse; and mitzvah objects, which are any items that were used in completing a mitzvah, like a lulav, etrog, or shofar.

Once filled, the box weighs about 20 pounds. It can be mailed to the burial site at Camp Stone, where it is put in storage until the yearly burial ceremony, which usually takes place during Tisha b'Av.

The Camp Stone program is unusual because most shaimos burials occur in a cemetery, not children's camps. That's because "when you bury a sefer Torah (Torah scroll), oftentimes you bury it with the body of a righteous person, like a rabbi, to elevate the soul," Goldstein explains.

Now living in Israel, Goldstein is optimistic that people will embrace use of the box. "We have a distributor, Israel Bookshop, and are selling up to 15 a week," he says. The box retails for $9.99. The Orthodox Union has even lent its approval, bestowing the coveted "OU" symbol that signifies a kosher product.

"The OU is concerned with all aspects of Jewish life," explains Rabbi Moshe Elfant, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of the OU Kashrut Department. "We see the Shaimos Box as an opportunity for us to extend our expertise to assist the community in all its needs."