What to do with (photo)copies of the bible (OT) or a Jewish prayer book (siddur)?
May they be discarded in a regular garbage bin?
According to Jewish law the answer is NO.
Photocopies of the Hebrew bible (Torah, Prophets, Writings) and the siddur must be buried in a genizah since they contain the seven holy names of G’d.
It is biblically forbidden to actively destroy or erase one of the seven holy names of G’d.
Deut. 12
3 You shall break…; you shall smash…; you shall burn…; you shall cut down…; you shall obliterate their names from that place.
4 You shall not do so to the LORD your G’d.
Out of respect for the holy text, please take your worn-out Hebrew bible or Jewish prayer book to a nearby synagogue.
It will be given a proper cemetery burial.
