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To save electricity, I like to shut down my computer every night. First, I quit my Web browser.

My Web browser is set up so that, when I quit, it automatically saves my session: a list of open tabs and more. It stores the session on my computer's hard drive. I find this very useful.

R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was strict about saving information to a computer's hard drive during Chol Hamoed. In "Chol Hamoed Observance in Modern Times", R' Howard Jachter explains:

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (cited in Shmirat Shabbat Kehilchata 66 note 209) [...] surprisingly forbids [...] storing information on a computer because it is a form of "building."

Let's say that my rabbi holds like R' Auerbach regarding saving on Chol Hamoed. If so, then during Chol Hamoed, may I quit my Web browser normally and let it save its session? Or must I take special steps so that it won't save its session?

CYLOR.

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    If you don't want to store anything on your harddrive you will need to do a lot more than not close your browser.
    – Michoel
    Mar 29, 2013 at 0:35
  • The browser doesn't save the session on shutdown - it saves it constantly. If you wanted to avoid the browser saving anything you'd need to use "Private browsing mode". But the computer does quite a bit more than just save a session.
    – Ariel
    Mar 29, 2013 at 1:13
  • Note that he also forbids typing on the computer in the first place, so it seems to be a moot point.
    – Shimon bM
    Mar 20, 2015 at 2:16

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I would think that R Shlomo Zalman would probably not allow one to use a modern-day computer on chol hamoed; a computer constantly saves and re-writes information. However, if this problem is avoided and you are solely concerned about saving browsing information, shut that mode off and use incognito browsing.

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  • A source for your assumption would greatly improve the quality of this answer.
    – Danny Schoemann
    Mar 22, 2015 at 7:17
  • @DannySchoemann it seems to follow directly from what's in the question.
    – msh210 ♦
    Mar 22, 2015 at 7:22
  • @msh210 Au contraire; the OP quotes RSZA as "forbids [...] storing information on a computer" which implies that one may use the computer, just not "write to disk".
    – Danny Schoemann
    Mar 22, 2015 at 7:23
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    @DannySchoemann most uses of a typical modern computer, if not all, store information on it.
    – msh210 ♦
    Mar 22, 2015 at 7:30

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