Thought for the Day: Divrei Torah Online and On Paper

I volunteer once a month or so for ChesedChicago, which is the rebranded name for the Chicago Chesed Fund. In a nutshell, what started as a personal chesed fund project launched by R' Shmuel Fuerst some 40 years ago has grown into much, much more than a fund. Baruch HaShem, the Chicago Jewish community supports this kind of growth. This last Sunday I got an unexpected benefit. The volunteers were invited to an appreciation brunch. That was not the benefit. R' Fuerst himself came to thank us and tell us how important volunteers are to the successful operations managed by ChesedChicago. That wasn't the benefit, but it was why I went -- I felt that since R' Fuerst felt this was important enough to take time from his busy schedule, then it should be important enough for me to attend. The benefit was that R' Fuerst stayed to answer any questions we had. No phones, no "just a minute, other line"; just us. Priceless.

In a recent TftD about the meaning and purpose of prayer, I quoted a verse from the Torah that included HaShem's four letter name -- aka (for you Greek buffs) the Tetragrammaton; aka, for the rest of us, the Shem HaShem. A very good friend of mine remarked that I may want to replace the Tetragrammaton (cool word, no?) with just 'ה; aka hey chikchuk. I was about to, then realized: (1) if the current text contains a name that can't be erased, then I am not allowed to replace it (as that would constitute erasing); (2) if the text can be replaced, then I don't need to; as there is clearly no problem with erasing. Clearly I needed to ask R' Fuerst about this and I would need some time for context, and it would be easier in person without phone interruptions. Baruch HaShem, that's what I got!

One interesting note before proceeding: there is an opinion that a 'ה is just as much a name that can't be erased as the Tetragrammaton. At least as a stringency, one needs to be aware of that.

Here is a summary. The Tetragrammaton on a computer screen is not a name that cannot be erased. The only reason, therefore to change it would be in case someone wanted to print out that TftD. But here's the thing, printed divrei Torah are shemos -- whether or not they contain the Tetragrammaton. Yes, even my humble TftD, which is certainly divrei Torah, needs to be treated as shemos. This is an important fact that is not so well known. It has one caveat -- that is only true if the main focus of the document is the divrei Torah. If the document contains other things -- announcements of births and marriages and whatnot, then it depends on what the focus is. R' Fuerst gives a simple test: what is the first thing people look at when they pick it up. If most people immediately turn to the back to find the announcements, then it's not shemos.

One last point, though: the custom is not to use the Tetragrammaton in divrei Torah, but to use the 'ה. Ok, so I changed it. I would not have gotten all those details over the phone.

Jealous that I got all that time with the rav? You should be. I can help you with that one. Go to the Get Involved page at ChesedChicago.org. Most of the needs are not about money, they are about your time. The need is great; the reward -- priceless.