Cries of “one bam!” and “two dot!” echoed through the halls of the Museum of Jewish Heritage as New York’s first-ever Jewish Mah Jongg Festival drew more than 350 lovers of the popular tile-based game to Lower Manhattan on Sunday and Monday.
Co-presented by Kveller and its parent company, 70 Faces Media, along with Modern Mahjong and the Museum of Jewish Heritage, The New York Jewish Mah Jongg Festival consisted of two action-packed days of lessons, social gameplay, panel discussions about the Chinese history and the Jewish connections to the game, as well as competitive tournament play.
The eager participants, who ranged in age from teens to 99 years young, came to New York from over 24 states and Canada to learn new skills, meet mah jongg luminaries in person, buy exclusive mah jongg-related merchandise and connect with fellow-minded mahj-lovers.
“It’s incredible to see so many people come together to express their love for the game, and to see a warm Jewish community forming before our eyes,” said Gabe Friedman, 70 Faces Media’s director of editorial experiences. “Because that’s what the game does — it brings strangers together to the table.”
We caught up with several festival-goers on Sunday to hear first-hand about their love of mah jongg and what the festival meant to them.
Rachel Pruett, who has been playing mah jongg “for less than a year,” came to the festival from Austin, Texas. “I love the history — from both sides — and I love that it’s challenging,” she said. “Sometimes I hate that it’s challenging but I love that it really occupies my mind.”
And just where did she get that fabulous mah jongg tile-print dress? Alas, for now, it is one of a kind. “I have a casual love for mah jongg, want to learn more, and I sew — and so, opportunity,” she said.
Manhattan-based college students Damion and Abby, who came to the festival as part of a Watson Foundation fellowship, had at least two brand-new experiences on Sunday: They tried their first-ever Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda, and they took a beginners’ mah jongg lesson. Would they like to keep playing? “Definitely,” said Damion. “It seems interesting.”
Modern Mahjong co-founder Donna Kassman took a break from teaching the game to staff her company’s table at the second-floor vendor area alongside her husband, Bruce. “I am amazed at the turnout and the excitement — and the thank you’s we are getting,” Kassman said.
Kassman, who has taught more than 10,000 people to play alongside her friend and business partner Dara Collins, said a highlight of teaching in-person at the festival was “the a-ha moments,” explaining her delight when someone tells her, “I’ve been playing for years — you taught us something new!”
Connecticuters and regular players Annie Fers (right), who runs her own mah jongg instruction business, Mahjong on the Go, and her friends Missy White (left) and Nina Falco (center) took a break from the festival’s scheduled programming to enjoy some casual play in the museum’s cafe. “We love all things mah jongg so we said we have to go,” said Fers, “and of course we had to get our wine.”
“I’m having a blast,” said White. “This is awesome.”
“This is our first big get-together with other mahj-ers,” Fers added. “We saw the seminar this morning and we learned a few things that we’ll go back and teach others.”
Chris Goodson and Joan Nurre, taking a moment to enjoy the views of New York Harbor from the museum’s events hall, came to the festival all the way from Huntsville, Alabama — it’s the largest mah jongg gathering either has ever attended. Nurre’s sister taught her how to play about a year ago. She said she loves “the community; the aspect of being able to gather with friends and enjoy a game.”
Barry Joseph, author of “Seltzertopia” and a co-founder of the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum, just started researching a book about mah jongg with the tentative subtitle: “How generations of Jewish women formed community through a Chinese game.”
Joseph — who has previously written books about Jews, for Jews and about games — had no personal connection to the game. Or so he thought. “As soon as I went to the first Facebook group and signed up, I saw all the other people who were also doing mah jongg,” he said. “Friends from elementary school, people from my current temple, parents of my kids’ camp friends and on and on. It turned out my entire world was surrounded by mah jongg, it was just invisible to me.”
“To come to this event, here in New York … doing it at this institution that’s about what it’s about, has been bashert,” he said, using the Yiddish word for “destiny.”
Susan Koslovsky, a New Yorker whose primary residence is in Boca Raton, was waiting for a seat in an “open play” game. Koslovsky loves mah jongg because it’s “very stimulating for your mind,” she said.
Koslovsky turned 70 in March, and for her birthday, her entire family learned to play — including her husband and her seven grandchildren, who range in age from 9 to 19.
Koslovsky has a regular weekly game in Florida, and the mah jongg table is always set up in her New York apartment. “I’m always looking for a new game,” she said. “I love meeting new people. You can sit down with anyone and play.”
Friends Karri Kaufman and Geri Weiss came to the festival from Bayside, Queens. Kaufman first tried learning how to play mah jongg in 2019 but “was totally confused, “she said. But last year, when a cousin found their grandmother’s “gorgeous” set, “I was able to pick it up at that point,” she said.
Kaufman got her first set this past Mother’s Day, and now Kaufman has a weekly game as well as a regular game with family and friends. “I’m a little obsessed with it,” she admitted.
Kaufman said she enjoyed learning about the history of mah jongg and its Jewish connections at the festival. Also, “I loved just walking into the room where all these different people were playing from all these different areas,” she said. “I just sat down with strangers; it was really nice.”
For social worker, author and Kveller contributor Carla Naumburg, mah jongg is a family affair. Naumburg came to the festival with her sister Daniela, who taught her how to play two years ago, and her 16-year-old daughter, Rose.
“I found it incredibly meaningful to play in this gorgeous and deeply Jewish space,” she said. “We could see the Statue of Liberty from so many of the rooms, and I actually found myself thinking about all of the Jews who have come through Ellis Island over the generations. I couldn’t help but imagine how scary and confusing it must have been to move to a new country. I … imagined how learning and playing mah jongg must have been such a powerful way for those women to find friends and community, and how it has continued to connect Jewish women through the generations.”
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