"Kids, I have a surprise for you!" said Abba once everyone finished bentching after their Shabbos day seuda.All children looked at Abba with suspense. He walked over to a corner of the room and pulled a game out of a bag."This looks like the game of Scrabble," said his daughter Miriam."Correct! And I made sure to open the package before Shabbos," said Abba."But why are the letters in Hebrew?!" asked his son Shmuel."Well," started explaining Abba, "Now that we made aliya, we need to start learning Hebrew. That's why I thought it would be a great idea to buy you all a game of Scrabble with Hebrew letters!""I love your idea, Abba," said his son Chaim, "But how can we play it on Shabbos?""Hmm...Are you saying that putting letters together to form words could be a melacha of Writing,” asked Abba."I think so," said Chaim, "And also, in Scrabble, the players write down the score. Although we won't be writing the score, maybe it's a problem to play such a game on Shabbos."Question: Can they play the Scrabble now?

This Halacha Challenge presents a family dilemma on Shabbos: can they play a Hebrew Scrabble game? The discussion explores whether forming words constitutes a m

Halacha Challenge: Playing Scrabble on Shabbos

A Shabbos table companion for the whole family