Mahjong for the win
July 31 (6 Av 5785)
👋🏼 Hi everyone, it’s Lauri Strauss sitting in for Logan, who is taking a much-deserved vacation with her family. But don’t worry — she’ll be back next week!
🀄️ It seems that wherever I go, my non-Jewish friends are asking if I play Mahjong, and if so, if I can teach them. The answer is “yes” and “no!” Like many of you, I enjoy getting together with friends to eat, drink, laugh, and play a couple of games of Mahj each month. But you definitely don’t want me trying to teach you, as I FINALLY won my first game in nearly a year. 😅
Here are some of the places I suggest for people who want to learn the game and see what Mahjong-mania is all about.
✔️ Two Sparrows
🎲 If you’re looking for some Mahjong swag for your group, check out Swoozie’s.
🗞️ Logan recently wrote about the revival of the game.
Thanks for reading, and let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see in future newsletters.
The Y’alla team
✡ Machaneh Shai (Hebrew for “Camp Shearith Israel”) is Congregation Shearith Israel’s religious school, serving kids 3 years old through 7th grade. Our approach blends tradition, creativity, and community to create a joyful and meaningful Jewish learning experience for students and families alike! Learn more and enroll now. SPONSOR MESSAGE
A day of hope and loss
😢 Tisha B’Av starts Saturday, Aug. 2. Considered to be the saddest day for Jews, it’s a time to mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies.
Once again, Tisha B’Av takes on special meaning this year as the war in Gaza continues.
📍 If you’re looking for a place to commemorate the holiday, Congregation EtzChaim is hosting an event for the community. Sign up here.
The smarter way to fill your fridge
SPONSORED BY FRESH HARVEST
🎒 It’s back to school season. Is your kitchen ready?
Keep the fridge and your crew full with fresh, local groceries delivered right to your door with Fresh Harvest. Choose a produce box packed with seasonal fruits and veggies your whole family will love, then stock up on snacks, pantry staples, and weekly essentials. We’ll deliver everything in our reusable green bin – no plastic bags, no last-minute grocery runs, just easy meals ready when you are.
➡️ Fresh food, fewer errands, and less stress for you. Sign up now with code ROUGHDRAFT20 for $20 off your first delivery.
Back 2 School
🍎 JF&CS’ mental health services is hosting a back-to-school event on Aug. 17 designed for families with school-aged children to connect over art projects and support a healthy mindset entering the new year.
Activities will also include a station for families to create sensory kits that will go back into the community.
👉🏼 Click here for more information and to register.
Jewish allies
❀ The White Rose Society has recognized its newest recipients for their support to Israel and the Jewish people.
Ashley Garrett is the director of Community Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
Rebecca Keener (pictured) is a media personality, author, and speaker who hosts the weekly program “Always More” on WACTV (Christian Television).
Dr. Laralyn and Chief Joseph RiverWind have worked to build bridges between Jewish and Christian communities.
Ashley Garrett is the director of Community Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
Celebrate Jewish arts and culture
🎉 Join hundreds of Jews of all ages and backgrounds over Labor Day weekend for LimmudFest at Ramah Darom in the North Georgia Mountains, taking place Aug. 29 – Sept. 1.
Created in partnership with Limmud North America, the festival includes engaging workshops, text-study, music, art, performances, hiking, yoga, delicious kosher food, and more.
Tom Lehrer found laughter even in the most sensitive aspects of Jewish life and history
🎹 The American Jewish singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer, who died July 26 at age 97, drew on Yiddishkeit in his sardonic ditties, although perhaps not always as explicitly as some Jewish fans might have wished.
Lehrer’s dazzling presence followed European performance traditions, where satirical, musically gifted Jews entertained prewar audiences. This societal role was less acute in America of the Eisenhower and Kennedy eras, when Lehrer’s career flourished.
Marla Morris’ Jewish Intellectuals and the University notes that the Austrian Jewish essayist Jean Améry (born Hans Chaim Maier) accurately identified Lehrer as a chansonnier, or cabaret performer who writes and performs their own material, often with sociopolitical commentary.
🎼 Read the full story on the Forward.
✡ Machaneh Shai (Hebrew for “Camp Shearith Israel”) is Congregation Shearith Israel’s religious school, serving kids 3 years old through 7th grade. Our approach blends tradition, creativity, and community to create a joyful and meaningful Jewish learning experience for students and families alike! Learn more and enroll now. SPONSOR MESSAGE
What’s doin’ around town
SPONSORED BY CONGREGATION OR HADASH
👧🏻 Aug: 2 – Tot Shabbat with Rabbi Lauren.
🀄️ Aug: 4 Mah Jongg Mondays.
🤍 Aug. 9: Tu Be’Av White Party for young professionals.
🦺 Aug. 10: Safety on college campuses.
🤣 Aug. 17. An evening of comedy with Ophira Eisenberg.
✡️ The next Jewish holiday is Tisha B’Av on Aug. 2.
🕯️ Light Shabbat candles this week at 8:19 p.m.
🗓️ Young families, join us August 8 for Meet, Mingle & Nosh with R’Lauren and Dr. Amy! We’re cooking—dinner, food for the soul 🎶, and offering babysitting. Come unwind after the first week of school and get to know Or Hadash!
We remember
‘I was first and foremost Jewish’
🎗️ Wesley LePatner, an executive at Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and a Jewish communal leader, was among the victims of a shooting in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. Read more about LePatner.