Question: With the proliferation of weekly Parashat Hashavua pamphlets that are
distributed, and so much material available in general relating to Jewish religious
topics, we are at our wits end as to what to do with these divrei torah. What can we
respectfully throw away, and what must we put into the geniza?
Answer: The only written material which must absolutely be kept or put into a proper
geniza is material which has one of the seven names of G-d: Y-HVH, E-L, E-LOHIM,
E-LOAH, Y-H, SHA-DDAI , TZVA-OT.
These names cannot be erased when written out in their full Hebrew form and in
Hebrew letters.
Anything else may respectfully be disposed of.
Other names in Hebrew - such as "Rahum" - are considered descriptive terms for
G-d rather than Divine names; similarly, the English word "God" is at best a
descriptive term, since it is based on an English rather than a Hebrew noun.