Mahjong in Beer Sheva
Image by VEAX1971 from Pixabay
Do we enter a tournament or not? Is our group ready for the challenge? Hmmm..., those were the typical debates floated amongst us. Well, we debated for a while. , most of us decided to bite the bullet and enter our first tournament.
On June 20th, 2021, the Israeli Mahjong League, organized by Laura Vinogradov, hosted a fundraiser for Alzheimer's. It was a friendly tournament, with only points as rewards and no betting permitted. We were all nervous even until the first game began. None of us has ever played in a tournament before. We were just hoping not to embarrass ourselves. The experience and cause was well worth the risk.
So members of our Beer Sheva group united and rallied for a good cause. Our group consisted of Leslie Baker, Ruth Freisem, Leah Jaffe, Riki Mannheim, and Carole Rosenblatt. We descended upon Rehovot to participate in our first tournament.
At first it was nerve-racking. The rules are a bit different for tournaments than regular play. There are different ways to play with only three players and not four players at a table. These rules are about racking, doing the Charleston, stealing and trading tiles. I know I was nervous until ... the first game began. Then, poof, all my worries were gone.
In the end, all the members of our group, the Mahjong Mavens, played well. We didn't come across as novices. We also had fun and most importantly the money raised went to a good cause.
The Mahjong Mavens are putting up a challenge to other ESRA mahjong groups, to enter friendly tournaments, to meet other groups and interact, to raise money and future friendships. Also if you want to join our group and learn the joys of mahjong, please do.
If interested in Mahjong, contact me at 052 460 7199.
Leslie Baker is in charge of the ESRA Mahjong group in Beer Sheva. She has developed her own style of teaching English to children and adults, both active and passive for the past 15-20 years. She is also a member of the Beer Sheva knitting group headed by Ruth Freisem.
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