Borer - Jigsaw Puzzles

QUESTION: Can one do a jigsaw puzzle on Shabbos?

ANSWER: There are two main issues with playing with puzzles on Shabbos: borer and koseiv.

Putting together puzzles usually requires sorting the pieces by color and shape which is forbidden under the melacha of borer. Although one can argue that it should be permissible to pick up a piece and put it into its spot, since you are taking the piece that you want (good from bad) for immediate use, invariably you will end up sorting the pieces. Therefore, even this should not be done. Also, attaching interlocking puzzle pieces to form a picture, according to many poskim, is a violation of koseiv (writing). If the pieces do not attach, Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa (16:23) writes that this would not be a violation of koseiv. He also writes that one is not required to stop small children from playing with puzzles even if the pieces interlock or are set in a frame.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.