Q&A: Erasing a Disk – Visible Damage
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Erasing a Disk – Visible Damage
Question
If someone inserts his fellow’s USB drive and deletes all the files on it that are worth a fortune, is this considered non-visible damage, for which one is exempt according to Jewish law?
Answer
Non-visible damage, according to most opinions, applies only when the damage is on the halakhic plane and not the factual one. But here this is visible damage even without that, since if you plug it into a computer you can see clearly that it has been destroyed. This is similar to someone who drained his fellow’s battery. You don’t see it just by looking, but when you connect it to the relevant device you’ll see that it was damaged.
I once heard in the name of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv that the rule of non-visible damage was said specifically about something to which visible damage could also apply, like terumah produce.