Bala Rebbe's Blog
"Bala Rebbe is the nom de plume of Arnie Feldman, a member of Beth Am Israel, who is given full credit for all wisdom, and is solely responsible for all foolishness, that may appear from time to time on this blog. Bala Rebbe's opinions and writings are solely those of the Bala Rebbe (with occasional Divine inspiration), and are not necessarily endorsed, sponsored or approved by Beth Am Israel."01/25/2010 - Response to Reb Joe Finkelstein
On 1/14 Reb Joe wrote;" Rebbe, my research indicates the name Mah Jongg is actually a corruption of a Yiddish name, not the name of a town in China. It appears that certain native Chinese had difficulty pronouncing correctly the true name of the Majongena Rebbe. He was known by his followers as the Mishshugena Rebbe, or the "Crazy Rabbi." 19th Century Chinese craftsman, who made a good living producing tiles for the Jewish immigrant game market, heard this as the "Majogena" Rabbe, and the name stuck. The rest is history."
My Dear Reb Joe,
I have devoted every waking hour of the past 11 days,excluding Shabbat, and attending at delicious Le Bec Am Dinner, researching this most interesting question of the origin of the name Mah Jongg.
Exploring the Chinese literature on the "疯狂拉比" ("Crazy Rabbi"), I did find that there are references to the 疯狂拉比 playing 牌, 四个人玩的中国游戏 (用类似 (mah jongg) and 的棋子, 必须接成牌来赢局 (dominos).
Unfortunately, I could not unearth the evidence that he had actually invented the game. My knowledge of Chinese is quite basic, so I may well have missed significant clues.
But I did come across the story of Emperor Taizu of Song (10th century) The King Solomon of China, who was confronted with an interesting problem.
20 miles east of the palace lived a man named Ping who invented games. He brought his game to the palace for official approval.
20 miles west of the palace lived a man named Pong who also invented games, and he too brought his game to the palace.
As luck would have it, they had both invented the same game!!
Ping and Pong arrived at the palace on the same day. The emperor was very fond of the game. "What shall we call it?", the emperor pondered.
Ping, Ping, said Ping.
Pong, Pong said Pong.
Back and forth Ping and Pong.
The emperor held up his hand. "We shall compromise" he said, "We shall call the game Chinese Checkers."
This was a favorite story of the Crazy Rabbi, who saw in it great mystical meaning, but unfortunately could never remember the mystical meaning.
May you have a Glatt Tu B'shvat.
BR
On 01/26/2010 Judy Watman said...
Dear Bala Rebbe and Reb Joe, (oy so many rebbes, we are so blessed to have such wisdom around us!)I appreciate both of your looking into the history of mah jongg for me and all of the other BAI players. But rebbe, I have yet another mah jongg dilemma. Why is it that only women want to play? Are men threatened by so many women in the room at the same time? Are they afraid that they will have to make matzoh ball soup when they take a break? It is evident to me that the tenor of the game would shift if men came but I want to keep this an open group. Maybe we need a men's mah jongg game.... hmmmmmm....On 01/26/2010 Arnold Feldman said...
Regards,
Judy Watman
Dear Judy,On 01/27/2010 Arnold Feldman said...
The Rebbe has referred your question regarding men and Mah Jongg to me, since he saw it as more of a psychological issue. In my paper on "Men and Mah Jongg" (unpublished) I interviewed 100 Jewish men. 80% had associations to the game that went back to childhood. It was seen by them as primarily a time of female bonding, and not as a game. 76% said they would never play Mah Jongg, and 24% said that they would definitely never play Mah Jongg.
Anold Feldman, MD
author Matrimony and Mah Jongg (unpublished)
The military and Mah Jongg:On 01/27/2010 Judy Watman said...
A chaplain in the US Army informed me of the following:
"Pursuant to Department of Defense Directive OSD 3488.002 as Revised 2008-06-08: The playing of Mah Jongg by men is officially under regulation of a “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” provision of the revised Uniform Code of Military Justice where it is to be understood that the playing
of Mah Jongg by men on US Government property during active duty hours does, however, contravene the UCMG."
So are those dominoes I see our military playing really mah jongg tiles in disguise? Oy, I never knew....
Previous Posts
09/21/2010 Acknowledging outstanding contributors (Most Recent)05/17/2010 - What If Joseph Had Shared His Coat
04/23/2010 - The Zealots of Israel
03/27/2010 - And God hardened Pharaoh`s heart
02/22/2010 - Chazzan Harold`s Dilemma
02/15/2010 - Get Ready for Purim!!
02/09/2010 - Question from a confused Jew
02/05/2010 - Puppets at Beth Am
01/30/2010 - Photo: Rebbe and Arnie chatting
01/25/2010 - Response to Reb Joe Finkelstein (Current display)
01/11/2010 - Mah Jongg
01/07/2010 - Eagles Prayer Improved Results
01/06/2010 - A Prayer for The Eagles
01/03/2010 - Shalom from the Bala Rebbe
