A person is permitted to read near the garbage can in his home, even if the can is not covered, provided that no foul odor emanates from it.
Sources and Explanations
It is obvious that it is forbidden to pray in a room containing a chamber pot of excrement, as the Shulchan Aruch writes (Orach Chaim 87:1). He also forbids reading opposite a garbage heap that has a foul odor (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 79:8), and the Mishnah Berurah adds there (79:29) that it has the status of human excrement in every respect. Therefore one must distance himself from in front of it as far as his eyes can see, even if he knows that it contains no excrement or urine, and this is a Torah law. Similarly, Rabbi Chaim Palagi remarked in the introduction to his book HaKatuv LeChaim that one reading Tehillim should take care that there be no foul odor, and also judge by what his eyes see that the place is clean. For if, Heaven forbid, he transgresses the prohibition of “for he has scorned the word of Hashem,” not only is his reward outweighed by his loss, but he will also be punished. Regarding this it is said, “In all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Likewise, when people establish a session of Tehillim or other study at the cemetery, they should take care that the place is clean of all filth, so that it be favorably accepted before Hashem and give satisfaction to the soul of the deceased.
However, all this refers to garbage receptacles that are saturated with filth or from which a foul odor emanates. But the cans in our homes, which are clean and from which no foul odor emanates, are permitted. In addition, the garbage is thrown into bags and not directly into the can itself. The Ohr LeTzion (vol. 2, chapter 6, ot 18) likewise rules leniently, and so it is in Halichot Shlomo (chapter 20, halacha 1). There, in the notes, they cite a practical precedent of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, who would pass near garbage cans without interrupting his learning, since no foul odor emanates from them and they are usually emptied every day, and moreover, the garbage thrown into them is generally in closed bags.
There is further reason to be lenient, because our cans are usually made of plastic or metal and not of earthenware, which becomes repulsive. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 87:1) already permits in such a case, since by their nature these materials do not absorb and become repulsive. The Ishei Yisrael (chapter 53, note 114 and se’if 32) likewise rules leniently.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 7: What Is Forbidden and Permitted When Saying Tehillim, Halacha 16 (p. 129 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
