Borer - Puzzle Cube

QUESTION: Can one play with a sliding tile puzzle or a Rubik’s Cube on Shabbos?

ANSWER: The object of these games is to move the pieces to sort the colors or numbers into their proper place. Is this a violation of borer (sorting), and is aligning the numbers a violation of koseiv (writing)? Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa (16:24) permits playing with sliding tile puzzles on Shabbos. He explains that since the numbered tiles are all already attached to each other, simply sliding them back and forth is not koseiv. Although he does not explain, one can offer several possibilities as to why this is not borer:

The sliding board or Rubik’s cube is all one unit. Nothing is sorted, since all the pieces remain attached.

Sorting the colors is the immediate “need” of the game. When you move the tiles, you are always separating the pieces you want for immediate use which is permitted.

However, Rav Shlomo Miller is quoted as saying that it is questionable whether one may play with a Rubik’s Cube on Shabbos.

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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.