One of my bunkmates cleaned the bunk yesterday and placed my suitcase containing nosh under one of the beds. Another bunkmate claims that since the food was under a bed it is prohibited.
Q: Is the food prohibited for consumption? If so, is the one who placed it there liable?
A: Your first query regarding the permissibility of the food is subject to dispute. Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 116:5) rules that it is prohibited to store food or beverages under a bed due to the presence of ruach raah. Some maintain that this prohibition is only l’chat’chilah, but the food does not become prohibited (Shevus Yaakov 2:25). Others contend that the food becomes prohibited as well, and many, due to concerns of spiritual danger, refrain from using it (Gra, Birkei Yosef; and see Darkei Teshuvah 116:35, 38. See also Minchas Yitzchak 4:117 regarding a baby carriage).
In your case, although placing another’s food under a bed is an act of hezek (damage), even though the prohibition is due to spiritual concerns, nevertheless, there are two issues that must be examined:
1. Is one liable for damages if there is a dispute whether the food is prohibited? If, while slaughtering, a shochet inflicts a wound to a friend’s animal and it is debatable whether it renders the animal a treifah, some authorities maintain that we cannot obligate the shochet to pay since the matter is subject to debate — even when the custom is to be stringent (C.M. 306:5). However, others contend that he is liable for those wounds which shochtim should know are customarily treated stringently (Shach 306:10). Accordingly, in your case, since many people are not aware of the prohibition of placing food under a bed, we cannot obligate the “mazik” (see Kehillas Yaakov, A.Z. 22 and Shaarei Yosher 1:9–10).
2. Is one liable to pay for hezek she’eino nikar — damages that are not detectable, i.e., the object hasn’t been physically altered but something was done to make the object prohibited? The Gemara (Gittin 53) rules that min haTorah one is not liable for hezek she’eino nikar but Chazal were concerned that people would abuse this halachah and inflict such damage, so they instituted that someone who intentionally inflicts hezek she’eino nikar is liable (C.M. 385:1). In your circumstance, since your bunkmate did not intend to cause the prohibition of your food, he cannot be forced to pay for the loss (see Shaar Mishpat 66:34).
Additionally, in your case the damage is indirect since it does not become prohibited immediately after it is placed beneath the bed; the prohibition occurs after one sleeps above the food.
According to some authorities when someone places a friend’s food under a bed, the food does not become prohibited since one cannot cause prohibition of property that is not his own (Rav Pe’alim 4:5, and see Halichos Shlomo, Tefillah 13:[64]). Some write that in circumstances in which the mazik is not liable, the ruach raah, harmful spirit, does not descend on the food (Salmas Chaim 23). However, if he intentionally placed his friend’s food under a bed and thereby caused it to be subject to the Rabbinic penalty (or in a case of grama he has a moral obligation — chayav latzeis yedei Shamayim), the ruach raah would descend on the food.
In summary: If the food is placed under a bed with the intent to cause it to become prohibited, the mazik has a moral obligation to pay the owner. If he did not realize he was making the food prohibited, he is not liable.