Mahjong festival draws hundreds to Jewish museum in Lower Manhattan

(JNS) — Some 500 people gathered on Sunday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan for lessons, lectures, social play and vendors at the New York Jewish Mah Jongg Festival.

“I think people really just want to connect,” mahjong historian Gregg Swain told JNS at the event, which also takes place on Monday. “Nowadays, it’s just so easy to spend time doing something mindless on the computer. Mahjong really allows people to connect in different ways.”

Swain told JNS that the game, which has Jewish roots, offers something increasingly rare in a digital world: face-to-face interactions ac...