Q&A: Secular Items on a Holy Bookcase
Secular Items on a Holy Bookcase
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I heard that a bookcase for sacred books has the status of an accessory of holiness, and therefore it is forbidden to place secular books or ordinary items on it. Is that correct?
With blessings,
Answer
I didn’t understand what you mean by a holy bookcase. Are you talking about a sacred book?
There are various laws of respect regarding books, but as for placing things on top of them, I don’t currently remember the source for that, if there is one.
In any case, in practice people are accustomed not to place other things on them. Even among sacred books themselves, in Jewish law people are careful not to place other sacred books on top of a Humash or a prayer book (I’m not clear why a prayer book as well, but that is indeed the common practice). It seems to me that the basis of the matter is that Humashim possess holiness in the object itself, the book, whereas for books of the Oral Torah the holiness belongs to the content and not to the physical object.
Discussion on Answer
A bookcase designed for sacred books is only a designation, and certainly does not thereby acquire holiness. But a bookcase that has already been used for sacred books—there may perhaps be room for such a claim. I once saw at Rabbi Lichtenstein’s house that his bookcase mixed secular and sacred books together (I liked the idea very much). Still, even here one could distinguish, since that is a bookcase that from the outset was not intended only for sacred use. In any case, to the best of my knowledge and understanding, there is no prohibition here.
Hello Rabbi, if a bookcase was used mainly for sacred books but also for secular books, and I make a new bookcase, is it permitted to take its shelves and use them for shoes?
Yes. First, this is probably an accessory of a commandment, not an accessory of holiness. Second, it was also used for ordinary things, and you also probably did not decide in advance to designate it exclusively for holiness. And in addition, I do not know to what extent such use is considered direct use (see Rema, sec. 154:3, regarding a secondary accessory).
Thank you very much!
I meant the shelves of a bookcase designated especially for sacred books. Is it permitted, for example, to lean on the bookcase, or to place ordinary items on it? I’m referring to the object of the bookcase itself. Just as a curtain, a Torah scroll cover, and a Torah reading platform receive the status of accessories of holiness.