one of the things I find baffling about this is that my mother's generation of Ashkenazi NYC Jews played tons of mahjong, using the traditional set, and had zero difficulty with it. https://twitter.com/mskathykhang/status/1346217922281299968

my mom and her friends had weekly games in our apartment; I could hear them shouting "one bam!" or "two crack!" from my bedroom.

my mother's set was gorgeous. it might have been bakelite? in a lovely wooden case.

(she might still have it; I don't know)

they were well aware of the game's Asian origin and would not have thought to "remake" it to be "more American" or "more Jewish" or anything other than what it was. because it was just fine the way it was.

*shrug*