“A tough-looking, leather-clad gang of Hasidic Jewish bikers who call themselves “Rebbe’s Riders” are cruising the tri-state area of New Y0rk, New Jersey and Connecticut, bringing the truth of the Torah to other motorcycle-riding Jews they meet on the road.

The Riders — members of the strict Brooklyn-based Lubavitch sect — “say their love of choppers gives them something in common with Jews who might have strayed onto the Highway to Hell,” reports the New York Post.

“If a rabbi walks into a bikers club, he doesn’t exactly fit in. But if he comes riding up on a bike, doors open to him,” said Jonah Halper, 30, who founded the Riders earlier this year. Some fellow Jews occasionally “make comments that what we do is not a Jewish thing. They say, ‘How can you ride bikes as Jews and say it’s for a Jewish purpose?'”

But on the road, the Riders get more respect — especially from other bikers, reports the Post‘s Reuven Fenton:

“No one sees the Rebbe’s Riders and says, ‘Who are you guys?’ ” Halper said. “It’s not like the Crips and Bloods. There’s a certain kind of respect you have for other riders that transcends lifestyle or creed.

The Riders’ moniker was inspired by the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, whose thousands of disciples proselytize around the world. 

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