3 Siblings Create Rebbe Mosaic From Rubik’s Cubes

By COLlive reporter

Siblings Yocheved Ross (16) and Levi Ross (14) of Toronto, Canada, had a handful of scrambled Rubik’s Cubes that they didn’t know how to solve. They asked relatives and family friends, and when no one could help them, they decided they would have to learn themselves.

After going through the steps while watching videos, they got the hang of it. Working on getting quicker at solving the cube, they bought more so that they could race against each other. Finally, they were able to solve the cubes in under a minute.

One night, while playing, they attempted to create a simple picture – a smiley face – out of eight Rubik’s cubes by solving the cubes to specific patterns rather than to solid sides. They then experimented with writing their names and other words out of the cubes before trying a double-sided mosaic of a dreidel, where one side had a nun and the other had a hei.

An aunt bought them a box of 100 mini cubes to use for mosaics, and from there, they started working on larger and more elaborate projects. Sometimes, they would use an image generator to transform a photo into a pixelated grid. Other times, they drew the image onto graph paper. They would work on copying the pattern, each from their own copy, until they joined their sections together.

Eventually, they purchased additional cubes and invested in clear acrylic frames, allowing them to rent out mosaics for various events. They created mosaics for a bris, an upsherin, a bar mitzvah, a wedding, and a sheva brachos. They made mosaics for class projects, a N’shei farbrengen, a Chabad House Purim party, and a school logo to display at parent-teacher meetings. They started a YouTube channel to display their works.

Now, they created their first permanent display: a beautiful image of the Rebbe smiling.

With the help of their 19-year-old sister, the three of them spent around 10 hours over a day and a half creating this 1,540-cube masterpiece. They mounted it on a plywood and affixed it to the wall in their grandparents’ house.

Currently, they offer two frame sizes for rent and can create custom sizes for purchase upon request. Despite living in Toronto, they said that they can customize mosaics in either Toronto or New York, to which they travel often.

Learn more at www.judaicsmosaics.com