22 | JULY 23 • 2020 

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Life is a Chai Way

Local Jewish motorcycle club hosts national meet and greet.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jews in the D

J

ewish motorcyclists from 
across the country recently 
converged on Detroit to 
explore historical sites and meet 
fellow riders from the tribe.
The Jewish Motorcyclists 
Alliance (JMA) hosted its Motor 
City Meet & Greet July 9-11, 
sponsored by the Michigan Chai 
Riders.
The Chai Riders are a local 
group of Jewish motorcycle 
enthusiasts started in 1994 by 
local businessman Sy Freilich, 
who was looking for a few riding 
buddies to hit the open road 
with. The group, now about 50 

strong, gets together a few times 
a week and were happy to host 
fellow Jewish riders from as far 
away as California and the East 
Coast, according to Chai Riders 
member Gerry Lullove, who vol-
unteered to organize the event. 
The JMA usually hosts the 
annual Ride to Remember, a 
fundraising ride held each year 
near International Holocaust 
Remembrance Day, focused 
on Holocaust remembrance 
and giving back to promote 
Holocaust education. This 
year it was canceled because of 
COVID-19.

“We didn’
t want to cancel our 
event because of the pandemic 
and went to great lengths to 
ensure physical distancing prac-
tices and safety measures were 
in place for the 50 Jewish motor-
cyclists expected to attend,
” said 
Lullove, an advertising executive 
who attends services at Temple 
Shir Shalom and has been a 
Chai Rider for a few years.
The Meet & Greet started 
Thursday night with a welcome 
dinner at the Radisson Hotel 
on Orchard Lake. A planned 
visit to the Holocaust Memorial 
Center on Friday had to be can-
celed because of COVID-19, so 
instead Lullove arranged for a 
Detroit police escort to accom-
pany the riders on a tour of the 
Motor City.
The four-hour Spirit of 
Detroit tour featured stops for 
photos at the Motown Museum, 
Michigan Central Station, Hart 
Plaza, Greektown and Belle Isle. 
The group of 55 bikes, led by 
their police escort, then rode 
back up Jefferson Avenue to see 
Ford Field and Comerica Park. 

“We got caught in a down-
pour, but we just road through 
the rain,
” Lullove said. 
They ended the ride at 
Motor City Harley Davidson in 
Farmington Hills where riders 
enjoyed an outdoor barbecue 
and those who needed main-
tenance could attend to their 
bikes.
Barry Sobel of West 
Bloomfield said the day’
s rain 
did nothing to dampen the 
group’
s enthusiasm. Sobel, an 
executive at Microsoft, has been 
a member of Chai Riders for 10 
years. He says the group has a 
wide range of people, from auto 
dealers to attorneys to podia-
trists and business owners. 
“We’
re not your stereotypical 
motorcycle club,
” he said. “I like 
to say we pull into a city and 
nobody gets scared.
”
On Saturday, attendees had 
their choice of three rides: 
Frankenmuth, the Dexter-
Chelsea area or Kalamazoo. 
When they returned, the group 
met for dinner at the Multi 
Lakes Conservation Center in 

Chai Riders Mark Rotenberg, 
Rick Hyman, comedian Sandy 
Hackett, Ron Korman (seated), 
Mayer Mekelwitz (back) and 
Susie Haskin-Colovas.

CATALYST MEDIA

