Mahjong is having a moment.
Once thought of as solely the province of Chinese and Jewish ladies of a certain age, the rummy-like game played with tiles instead of cards is now becoming a prominent social enticement appealing to younger and wider audiences.
That zeitgeist is very apparent in Rye, where you can play at The Rye Free Reading Room, The Wainwright House, or The Damiano Center at Rye Rec. The library started offering groups because, according to Catherine Riedel, assistant director, the library got many requests from outside groups asking to use space.
“We thought that the community had a need, so we started our own program,” she said.
Beginner Mindy Chavez, who joined the Wainwright group, fondly recalls her mother’s weekly game.
“I want to experience what she got out of it all those years,” she said.
Groups playing at the library tend to skew female, but Riedel noted that a few men are starting to show up.
Mahjong originated in China in the 1800s but there are now more than 40 different versions. It is more than a game. Mahjong provides an opportunity to connect and socialize, which in today’s isolated world, is increasingly hard to come by. It traditionally has been older people who played, but “I find that women in their 30s and 40s are really enjoying it now,” said Steph Loewenthal, who runs the Wainwright group.
In her book “Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture,” author Annelise Heinz wrote that the magic of the game’s appeal may come from the particular way it allows participants to socialize.
“In between each round, you have a pause, where you are shuffling the tiles, or ‘washing’ the tiles,” she wrote. “And it’s just the right amount of time to have a little bit of conversation. I think that tempo is perfect for building new relationships. When you’re in a new community or connecting across a generational divide, maybe you don’t want to have deep heart-to-heart or can’t have one, but you can have a little bit of conversation and over time, those rhythms, especially if you’re playing with the same group of people, can build incredibly deep, long-lasting relationships.”
Jews of a certain age remember their bubbes kibbitzing over a weekly game. (If you hung around and kept quiet, it was the place to find out all the good gossip. Uncle Mort did what?) Amy Tan’s bestselling “The Joy Luck Club” was centered on a group of Chinese immigrant mothers who taught their American-born daughters about life over their group game. The novel was even structured like a mahjong game. And who can forget when the beleaguered but feisty heroine in “Crazy Rich Asians” shows up her boyfriend’s snooty mother by cleverly manipulating the tiles?
Nobody is trying to show anybody up at the library. But, said Reidel, people are finding new ways to interact with one another.
“Rye is such an extraordinary town where we all feel connected to each other, and so this is just a way to come together and enjoy real one-on-one face time,” she said. “It really is a wonderful social outlet. And here at the library, you get to meet people from all different aspects of the community.”
After learning the game, Loewenthal became so passionate about it that she created a new business, The Modern Mahj, which offers private lessons, pop-up lessons, open sessions, and rentals for mahjong parties.
Players also talk about the “brain buzz” they get from developing strategies and recognizing patterns. Chavez said, “You constantly have to plan your next move, and follow what the other players are picking up and putting down. It’s stimulating.”
Loewenthal agreed. “I feel like it uses a part of your brain that you don’t tap into in an everyday basis. It really makes you think differently,” she said.
In fact, a scientific study published in 2024 in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease suggested that “more mahjong-playing experience was associated with better cognitive, psychological, and functional abilities. As an intervention, playing mahjong was found to enhance general cognitive abilities and short-term memory and relieve depressive symptoms.”
To the untrained eye, mahjong looks scarily hard. Don’t let that assumption put you off, said Loewenthal. “When you first hear the rules, it sounds like a lot, and for some people, that’s a barrier to entry,” she said. “But I think it’s quite an accessible game. Once you’ve played two to three games, it really clicks, and you get it. And then, it’s just addicting.”
You can contact Loewenthal at steph.loewenthal@gmail.com. Or stop in to one of the following mahjong games:
The Rye Free Reading Room:
Every Sunday, 1 p.m. Free
Anyone can come but if you are a beginner, you may have to watch for a few sessions until you learn.
