A Brighton synagogue plays an afternoon for the Walk to End Alzheimer's

On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 15, Temple B'rith Kodesh on Elmwood Avenue in Brighton, New York, gave its tables over to Mahjong for a cause. The synagogue held a tournament to benefit this year's Walk to End Alzheimer's, and 13WHAM reported that the event is expected to raise more than $8,000.

The station described the afternoon as a push to raise both money and awareness in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. The Rochester-area walk it supports is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, according to the report.

Why Mahjong, in the organizers' words

Organizers told 13WHAM that the game is mentally engaging and works cognitive skills such as memory, pattern recognition and concentration. That is their reason for pairing a tile game with this cause, and it is reported here as theirs. Order of the Tile makes no claim of its own about what any game does for the mind.

What is plainly true is the simpler thing, and it may be the better story: a synagogue, a Wednesday afternoon in July, tiles going around the tables, and thousands of dollars headed for a walk in October.

A congregation with deep Rochester roots

Temple B'rith Kodesh has been part of Rochester's life for a long time. According to the temple's history page, it was founded on October 9, 1848, as an Orthodox synagogue with 12 members. By 1894 its membership had passed 250 and the congregation had bought a building downtown, and in the years that followed it moved from Orthodoxy to Classical Reform.

The temple was on Gibbs Street in downtown Rochester when Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein became senior rabbi in 1926, the page says, and its building in Brighton was dedicated in 1962. Today the congregation counts more than 770 families and describes itself as the oldest Jewish congregation, and the largest Reform temple, in the greater Rochester area.

Not the first Rochester table for this walk

Mahjong and this walk have met before in the Rochester area. In August 2025, 13WHAM covered a tournament at Temple Beth El in Rochester, held on August 6, 2025, for that year's Walk to End Alzheimer's. Martha Green told the station that 92 people came, more than expected, and Linda Epstein said the aim was awareness, with people on hand to share information about programs in Rochester and the Finger Lakes for caregivers.

The two reports do not say whether the afternoons are connected. Both, though, show congregations around Rochester using an afternoon of Mahjong to gather people for this cause.

How to take part

As of this writing, the walk itself is still ahead, on Saturday, October 3, and 13WHAM points readers to the Alzheimer's Association's walk page for more information. Temple B'rith Kodesh lists its calendar and a contact page on its website for anyone who wants to know what comes next on Elmwood Avenue.

Prim's view

I am always a little wary when anyone promises that a game will mend a mind, and I notice the organizers did not quite promise that. They offered a reason to sit down together, and then they made the sitting count. More than $8,000 from one Wednesday afternoon is a remarkable sum for a game that asks only for a table, four chairs and a little patience.

A congregation that began with 12 members in 1848 knows something about how small gatherings grow. Two summers, two temples, one walk: Rochester seems to have found a lovely habit, and I hope the tiles keep turning up every summer until the walk is no longer needed.