WHY SHIRAT HAYAM WORKS FOR OUR FAMILY
The Wongs

My name is Karen Wong, and my family joined Congregation Shirat Hayam in 1999 shortly after we moved to Boston’s South Shore. We found the Shirat Hayam community warm and welcoming. CSH celebrates Jewish traditions, has a vibrant community based religious school, and embraces all who enter its doors.

I come from a Reform Jewish family in Los Angeles, California and attended religious school through my confirmation. My husband, Ling was born in Hong Kong and moved to Brookline, Massachusetts when he was a toddler. Ling learned much about Jewish traditions from working in a kosher deli in Brookline and growing up in a predominately Jewish community. We met in college and I joked that he was destined to marry a Jew. During our courtship, we both had family members and friends who questioned the union of a Chinese and a Jew. For us, the differences were not so great. We were both raised by parents who valued tradition, family, education, hard work, integrity, love, and of course, good food. What more could you want in life? Ling came to our relationship with a long and rich culture and I came with my Jewish religion and heritage. Ling knew I felt strongly about raising children in the Jewish faith and he embraced that for our family. Our extended families have grown extremely close and have helped us successfully instill our blended histories in our three children. Our children have a very strong Jewish and Chinese identity. Michelle and Jake completed their bat and bar mitzvahs while our youngest, Elizabeth will begin her bat mitzvah studies in earnest this fall.

Living in Duxbury where there is not a large Jewish or Chinese population, our kids have been teachers to many. They share foods and religious rituals with friends and teachers. I can never make enough rice or matzo ball soup to satisfy all the kids who gravitate to our kitchen. Michelle just left to begin a new chapter in her life at the University of New Hampshire as Hospitality Major. I know she has taken with her a strong sense of self and already found a fellow clarinet playing Jewish young woman in the room next door. For our family, the friends from Congregation Shirat Hayam will always be a part of us.

Our Families Archive:
The Goldmans
The Sterns