1 Dot, 2 Bam, 3 Crack...Challah MAHJONG!

I I don't want to start off this blog with something that sounds like an ethnic joke, but it might seem to sound that way. What one thing do Chinese people and Jewish Women of all ages take passion and pride in?

No, no it's not the food, but I'm thinking that would actually come in a close second. I know you might be thinking since we tend to share Christmas Day with Chinese folks, we are like kindred spirits. And I believe we are, but not with a food feeding frenzy (sorry J, I know how much you live for your daily Asian food intake).

I believe our true passion and kinship is connected through a little game, centuries old, called - Mahjong!

1 Dot, 2 Bam, 3 Crack...Challah MAHJONG!

Honestly I’ve known about the game since I was a little tyke. My mom has always had a regular Mahjong night, even if that did mean it changed from Monday to Thursday, before settling back on Wednesday night. The cast of players became revolving door of people joining the group, quitting the group and eventually rejoining.

And all along I became this mostly silent observer of a weekly ritual that looked more like a opportunity/excuse to gossip, get away from the kids, husbands and the rest of the world for a couple of hours. I even attempt in elementary school or jr. high to learn the game so I could be “a seat filler” when folks took a break. My reasoning was to do the following:

1. stay up maybe an hour later then I was supposed to
2. eat some delicious snacks that were prepared or bought when my mom hosted the games
3. listen to what I thought was adult conversation (needless to say looking back it was never anything I cared about anyway)

So I learned to play Mahjong and did for a year or so, even getting my own player card. Before promptly realizing I had better things to do with my adolescent time.

And that’s where I left the game of Mahjong for many, many years. It was that game that, “My Mom plays every Wednesday night.”

That was until last night, where I gave it another go. I sat down with Jewish women across the age range, learning to play their game of choice. I struggled with the first two hands as I tried to focus and equate it to Gin Rummy, which provided disastrous results.

Finally I got that epiphany of what game everyone else was playing. I started to follow along and actually started enjoying myself – Go figure. I guess that point was driven home when I woke from a deep sleep dreaming of Mahjong patterns. Who knows if I will be addicted to the game as much as the Chinese, my mom or some of the other Jewish women that surround me, but I’m not going to lie – my curiosity has been stirred.