Joe Domosh was living a pretty standard lifestyle well into his 30s. He was a college graduate with a good job living in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., with his wife and four children, but he realized these things don’t always promise happiness.
Domosh graduated from East Stroudsburg University with his bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and earned his master’s degree in exercise science from Central Michigan University.
After school, he decided he wanted to be a businessman but wasn’t happy with the money he was making, so he got into the pharmaceutical field.
He went on to have quite a successful career, operating in several different roles over his 20 years in the field. He worked his way up to becoming a regional vice president of sales of a pharmaceutical marketing company, and that is where his career and life got turned upside down.
Domosh didn’t think things could get much worse after losing both his parents, little sister and going through a divorce all in fewer than three years.
However, about a year later, he also lost his uncle who played a big role in his life after everything that had happened.
“This was a very tumultuous time for me,” Domosh said.
When he was in his interview for the vice president position, Domosh was asked a question that would also put a spin on his career.
“The guy who was conducting the interview asked me when I was the happiest in my career, and that question stuck with me over the course of the next couple weeks,” Domosh said.
The question continued to bug him until he came to the realization that he was happiest when he was teaching.
Domosh taught as a professor of sports medicine, and as a training manager, he lectured and taught other employees how to sell pharmaceutical products.
He knew he had to get back into teaching but did not know what he was going to teach.
After going through his vast collection of books, he counted one more Jewish book than business and medical books, so, just like that, he decided to pursue a career in rabbinic and Jewish studies.
The Miami-based Maimonides University seemed to most uniquely fit his needs at the time.
Domosh has now been a rabbi for about a decade and has thoroughly enjoyed his experience. He decided to return to South Jersey, as he knew the area well after growing up in Willingboro.
Domosh spent seven years at Congregation of B’nai Israel in Burlington and is now in his second year at the Congregation of Ner Tamid Synagogue in Cherry Hill.
“A congregant who was my advisor in my Jewish youth group from my Willingboro days was a member of Ner Tamid,” Domosh said. “He decided to throw my name into the mix for potential candidates, and I got the job.”
Domosh now enjoys every day of his new lifestyle and has also gotten involved with a biker group through the Jewish community after being a long-time rider.
“I looked at a variety of clubs, it was a matter of fitting in,” Domosh said.
He went to a ride called The Ride to Remember in Washington, D.C., that was hosted by the Jewish Motorcycle Alliance. Four months later, he got an email notifying him that someone from that ride was starting a club, so Domosh got involved.
He is now the road rabbi of the Philadelphia branch of the Star of David Bike Group.
The group now has about 40 people, and it takes part in numerous rides throughout the year. A large event it always gets involved with happens right before the high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
“A month before the high holidays, we take two weeks to travel to cemeteries and make sure that everything is OK. It is a Jewish tradition that some people cannot do, so we become their agents and say their blessings for them,” Domosh said.
When he is not busy being a rabbi, Domosh brews his my own beer, is a member of the National Rifle Association, shoots competitive trap, enjoys sailing and loves to travel.
“No where in particular, just always looking for a new experience,” Domosh
