The new mahjong cards are arriving: Will the pandemic mean another lost winter for players?

Carol Seidman and her friends playing mahjong in Florida, March 2022. From left: Fern Orzech, Bonny Silver, Lori Ulmer, Carol Seidman and Shirley Belberg. (Submitted photo.)

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For legions of mahjong players, this is the most exciting time of year. In the next week or two, the new 2022 version of the official card rules will be arriving from the National Mah Jongg League headquarters in the United States.

For untold numbers of mahjong fans—including many Jewish Canadians—the new card poses new challenges, but also brings uncertainty. The COVID pandemic has severely impacted how people played the game these last two years —if they could play at all.

To chat about what mahjong lovers can expect, we’re joined by Shirley Hanick, a majhong teacher and collector from Toronto; Carol Seidman, her friend and fellow collector; and Aviva Reinitz, who teaches the game in Montreal and Florida.

What we talked about:

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.