Motorcycle Minyan Seeks a Rabbi Who Was Born To Be Wild
Above photo from Hillel's Angels
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A newly formed minyan in this South Florida community is looking for a rabbi. Applicants must be enthusiastic about working outside a traditional synagogue setting — way outside. On the open road.
The King David Bikers, a motorcycle minyan formed just six weeks ago, has already attracted more than a dozen members who share the group’s interests, as spelled out by president Jeff Mustard: “the passion to ride and the bond of our faith.”
Mustard is leading the search for a spiritual leader for the King David Bikers. “I’m looking for a rabbi to impart a certain Jewish fabric to the group,” he said. “Lessons from the Torah, Jewish enrichment, Jewish education.” The only requirement is that the rabbi ride a motorcycle, a quality not readily found among Jewish clergy.
Rabbi Yaakov Nerenberg of the South Florida Association of Rabbis offered to help Mustard in his search for a Harley-loving spiritual leader. But he told the Forward that not all rabbis are born to be wild. “I am having difficulty finding a rabbi who can fit their needs,” Nerenberg said. Despite that challenge, Nerenberg remains optimistic and continues to search because to him it “sounds like they are on the right path.”
Mustard said that interest in the King David Bikers took off almost immediately after he launched a Web site heralding the group’s formation in February. “A new congregation is rolling into South Florida and it has less to do with whether you are a Conservative, Reform or Orthodox Jew than it does with whether or not you ride a motorcycle,” the home page announces. “If you are Jewish and you ride a motorcycle, finally there’s an organization for you.”
Mustard expects membership to reach two dozen by next week. He said the positive response has been gratifying. “It says to me that what I was feeling, other people were feeling, and there was clearly a pent-up demand for it. It’s like creating a product that really works and people are buying it,” he told the Forward while eating pizza at a Fort Lauderdale outdoor cafe a few feet from where he had parked his gleaming 1600cc Yamaha Road Star Silverado.
Currently, the riders meet every Sunday at the Rascal House — a venerable delicatessen that Mustard has deemed the “big temple of delis” — for breakfast, schmoozing and riding afterward. Mustard, an advertising executive during the workweek, characterizes the members as mostly professionals and businessmen, with a few female and non-Jewish riders diversifying the pack.
There are other Jewish biker clubs in the country, including the Chai Riders and the Star of Davidson in New Jersey and the Sabres in Atlanta. But according to Mustard, the King David Bikers are the first in Florida and the first to seek a rabbinical leader. He hopes to start other chapters around the country. “I think this could be a national organization in other major markets,” Mustard declared while fielding cell phone calls from rabbis and interested bikers.
Star Of David Bikers
The King David Bikers have plans to attach mezuzas to members’ bikes, along with saying a short blessing over the kosher hogs, a custom adopted by other Jewish motorcycle communities.
The group has also planned several socially conscious events, including attending a lecture on the Holocaust and a commemorative ride to Miami Beach’s Holocaust Memorial on April 18, the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. Charity will be another priority — Mustard described plans for a dreidel drive during Chanukah to collect toys for needy children.
Mustard envisions the King David Bikers as more than just weekend Harley hobbyists. “I see this organization as being part motorcycle club, part social club, part chamber of commerce,” said Mustard. “I have a feeling that strong relationships, both personal and business, will evolve from this.”
Hillel's Angels
[BTW - there is an Israeli motorcycle club as well. Personally, I am against motorcycles because I believe that they are inherently dangerous, and I think it's prohibited to ride them. BUT, I appreciate the will to have a club of Jewish people who ride. In Israel, I have seen them ride through Gush Katif and Hebron in solidarity with the people there. G-d bless them, and give them safety, and may all those who ride in the Galut, drive home into the sunset of destiny. YF]
Labels: Humor, Spirituality, Yishai
8 Comments:
At 8:13 AM , therapydoc said...
Okay! I've got the guy for you! And he's marrying an Atlanta girl but I think they're moving to Florida.
I'll send him the link :)
Yeshiva University, rides a Kawasaki, I think.
At 5:34 PM , Yishai said...
Your article (blog) has many descrepiances and inaccuracies. If you would like more information about "Jewish motorcycling", you can view JMA website.
The JMA is our international governing body. The Ride 2 Remember 2008 is being held in Nebraska, May 22nd. We are riding and raising money for the "National Holocaust Endowment Fund". I hope that you will be interested, in finding out more.
At 6:05 PM , Anonymous said...
While according to Mustard, the King David Bikers are the first to seek a rabbinical leader, there are Jewish Motorcycle clubs that already have and had rabbinical leaders.
Check out http://www.jewishbikersworldwide.com for additional and accurate information.
At 8:26 PM , Anonymous said...
This article is dated. The statements that are made are at least 4 years old.
The King David Bikers was attempting to create a big corporation and for a very short time, even had a chapter in Philadelphia and Montreal. Since, that vision has come and gone. The only remnant is the King David Bikers of South Florida, though the original King David Bikers website still portrays itself as something larger than reality.
I agree with the previous poster regarding rabbinical leadership.
There are at least 20 other motorcycle organizations that are affiliated with the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA). These clubs are globe wide and include the Israel Motorcycle Club.
At 5:27 PM , Anonymous said...
I take offense by your last comments. There is nothing in the Halacha that would prohibit a Yid from riding a motorcycle. As a matter of fact if you look to the Psalms we are doing as commanded "He nay ma Tovu U manaim, shevet achim gam yahad" how good it is to be "come" together with "among" my brothers. You should first investigate the truth before making comments, what you have written here may no longer be the facts of the situation and by your ingnorance in not investigating and verifying the truth "emes" you may be at risk of having committed Leshon Herra. I would suggest you update your article.
Rabbi Joe
Road Rabbi Star of David Bikers.
At 5:58 PM , Yishai said...
Dear Rabbi Joe,
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
What Lashon Hara are you talking about? That I gave my opinion that Motorcycle riding is inherently dangerous, like smoking, and may be construed as in contradiction to the Halachic principle of "VeNishmartem Meod Al Nafshoteichem"? Last time I visited an intensive care ward it was half-filled with half-dead bikers. Sorry, warning people about the dangers of motorcycle riding is a not a sin.
At 9:04 PM , Anonymous said...
While no one can argue that motorcycle riding "can" be dangerous, especially for the untrained, let's put things into perspective:
While there were 4,553 fatalities in motorcycle crashes (over 1/2 did not wear a helmet), there were 4,881 pedestrian fatalites.
If we are going to say that motorcycle riding is against chalichic principles, should we not point out the dangers of walking?
At 3:48 PM , Anonymous said...
Bikers don't wear helmets, bikers ride bar to bar, bikers have loud machines and think of themselves (and only themselves), bikers scoff at the thought of taking a safety class... bikers fill morgues and ICUs. Black is for funerals.
Motorcyclists wear safety gear (often brightly colored), take safety classes, don't drink & ride, accept that they are sharing the road and responsible for their own safety, and have properly-maintained machines that are no louder than the average car. I'm a motorcyclist.
According to both the Hurt report and more recent studies, about 2/3 of motorcycle crashes are the other driver's fault. It's not motorcycles that are dangerous, it's car drivers!
And if you want to discuss suicidal behaviors, look at the death statistics for smokers. If that many people died all at once in one place every day, rather than scattered across the country in hospices and hospitals, the public outcry would be enormous.
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