Summer 2002

Mah-Jongg Memories

Borscht-belt comics were quick to notice that American Jews loved Chinese food. But anyone living in Jewish neighborhoods of decades past also would have noticed that Jewish women relished another aspect of Chinese culture. The latter passion is the subject of a delightful and affecting documentary, Mah-Jongg: The Tiles That Bind. This award-winning film, a favorite at Jewish film festivals, is available on video for home viewing.

Filmmakers Phyllis Hellman and Bari Pearlman interview young and old from both the Jewish and the Asian communities to tell the story of the game—played in China from the time of Confucius—that became a part of Jewish popular culture.

An American version of the game was introduced in the 1920s and quickly became a pastime among the wealthy, since sets cost as much as $500. But when Milton Bradley issued a moderately priced edition, the sound of fingernails clicking against mah-jongg tiles was soon heard in Jewish neighborhoods.

Jewish women enjoyed the game because it was mentally challenging, but that was only part of its attraction. For women whose days were taken up by cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children, mah-jongg provided an excuse to connect—to get together with friends from the neighborhood for a few hours of relaxation, gossip, and nosherei (snacks). Mah-Jongg night was mother’s night, and children knew not to disturb either the game or the fancy cake and other food that their mother had prepared for the occasion.

The only Jewish kid in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood in Queens, Hellman first saw mah-jongg played in the back room of a candy store owned by the family of her friend Eddie Chang, the only Asian kid in her school. She ran into the game again after she married: Her mother-in-law competed in mah-jongg tournaments and had a living room full of trophies.

Hellman, who runs a public relations company, brought the idea of making a documentary about the game to Pearlman, an aspiring filmmaker, who today runs her own production company. Pearlman readily agreed to undertake the project. The 32-minute film is drawn from 80 hours of footage the two friends shot over the next four and a half years while continuing to work at their full-time jobs.

What is especially surprising and moving about the film is how deeply the game is entwined with memories of loved ones. Writer Hope Edelman, the author of Motherless Daughters, confesses in the film that she can’t bear to give away her deceased mother’s mah-jongg set, even though it has sat unused for many years. Her mother’s monthly mah-jongg games, she says, were “a consistent thread throughout my childhood.”

But the game has more than nostalgic appeal. As multiple generations of women in the film attest, it’s the bond you form and the fun you have that give mah-jongg its staying power. April Orsuto, a personal trainer and mah-jongg devotee, says simply, “I want to play it forever.”

Mah-Jongg: The Tiles That Bind is available through www.mahjonggmovie.com or by sending a check for $25 to BTG Productions, P.O. Box 133, New York, N.Y. 10014. The price includes shipping and handling.