MEET RABBI JOSEPH M. DOMOSH…

FAMILY: Parents: The late Gail and Stephen. Children: Josh, 17, and Jacob, 12.

Rabbi Joe (right) with Louis Nemtsov, president of the Star of David Bikers, in the Temple B'nai Israel sanctuary. ALMA MATERS: East Stroudsberg University, Bachelor's in Sports Medicine; Central Michigan University, Master's in Exercise Science; Maimonides University, West Miami Beach, ABD in Rabbinics and Jewish Studies,.

THE BIKE: A 2001 cabernet Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad with a 1,500cc engine.

He's brought his two worlds together.

Forty-five years old and recently ordained, Rabbi Joseph Domosh has synthesized two longtime passions— Judaism and biking—by bringing his motorcycle club, Star of David Bikers, into his congregational life.

Domosh ( known to his congregants as Rabbi Joe) became the spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Israel on Sept. 7, one month before the start of Rosh Hashanah. A Willingboro native who grew up in Temple Emanu-El (now Adath Emanu-El in Mt. Laurel), he lives in Elkins Park, PA and bikes to his 101- year-old Burlington, NJ shul.

In his short time with the 65-household Conservative congregation, Domosh has involved his motorcycle club in a "Shaliach Ride," invited it to a Sukkot party, and planned some upcoming "Bikers Shabbats." The "Shaliach Ride," which entailed B'nai Israelites hiring the bikers as pre-high holiday shlichim to six South Jersey cemeteries, "was a real mitzvah," Domosh said. Not only did the bikers perform a valued service for people unable to travel, they also donated their fees to the shul.

Star of David and the Jewish Motorcylists Alliance (JMA), its umbrella organization, are both into mitzvot, according to Rabbi Joe. In fact he and Louis Nemtsov, Star of David president and co-founder with him, first met during a JMA mitzvah—the 2005 "Ride to Remember" in Washington, D.C.

This event marked the first time ever that bikers converged from all over the United States and beyond to commemorate Yom Hashoa. Since then, the JMA ride to benefit the National Holocaust Education Fund has become an annual happening, taking bikers to Tennessee (the home of the Paper Clip Project) in 2006; New York City (for the Israel @60 Parade) in 2007; and Omaha this year. A Savannah "Ride to Remember" is scheduled in 2009.

"Biking by yourself is great, but biking with a club is better," said Domosh. "And Jewish bikers need to bike with Jews."

The numbers bear him out. His own club started with four members in 2006 and now has 23, while JMA now encompasses 23 clubs—from Australia, Canada and Israel as well as throughout the United States - with 800 bikers, a healthy percentage of them women.

"Where other clubs ride from bar to bar, Jewish clubs ride from restaurant to restaurant," Domosh said. They also pray, hold Jewish study sessions and, of course, perform mitzvot. You have to be Jewish and interested in some aspect of Jewish life to join Star of David or any other JMA club, according to Domosh. But there are no other requirements. Jews of every stripe are welcome. "You don't have to be affiliated."

For Domosh, bringing his club and shul together means that both communities benefit. At B'nai Israel, he and his congregants can give his biker community some wanted Yiddishkeit. "We can teach them about being Jewish." He can also grow his congregation because the presence of the lively bikers gives young Jews in surrounding areas a special incentive to come to shul.

For information about Star of David Bikers and/or Temple B'nai Israel, email rebyossel@comcast.net. .