The Goy of Mah Jongg
OK, I admit it! I play Mah Jongg! I learned the game when I turned 40! What a cliché.
Mah Jongg is a game for 4, played with tiles and a card, in which you have to match hands on the card. I think it is a cross between Bridge and Rummy Cue. Yes!! — I also know it is a game primarily associated with elder Jewish women. I also admit I am not, but my husband is Jewish.
I got the game together a little less than a year ago, kind of out of spite, after my husband decided to take his friend to the first Championship Heat game of the year instead of me! It made me realize I needed something that was mine, exclusive of him. (I have forgiven him… he earned his points back)
I posted a notice on a local bulletin board looking for ‘laid back’ women wishing to play Mah Jongg once a week. (Laid back is MY requirement, because some women are a bit intense about the game.)
By the beginning of the year, I had received responses from some very lovely ladies. We now have a game of 5 women and try to play once a week. More than half of the time, we play at my house.
One thing I did not mention is that I am the only “shiksa” or non-jewish woman in a game that is assumedly played by Jewish women. When we first started playing, I suppose it was just taken for granted that I was Jewish. I am from New York, and as a co-worker reminds me, I use more Yiddish than she does, and she is Jewish.
Our Mah Jongg games have been great, but as time went on, I realized that it might be uncomfortable for everyone if they were to realize that I am actually a “Shiksa”, as they sometimes refer to other women. I guess I need to keep my secret, but now I feel deceitful.
Come December, what the heck do I do with the Christmas tree?
