Shmuel and Yonah (Samuel and Sandra) Moukouri are a highly cultured and talented young couple. Visit Shmuel's lab, and you will find him at his computer researching mathematical models of solid state physics. Peek into their apartment and be serenaded by rich sounds of classical piano. Yonah relaxes from writing her thesis in French Literature by playing her favorite, Chopin.

But come Friday night, the computer is off and the piano closed. Fragrant smells of pungent Sephardic spices and French cuisine waft through the air as Yonah puts the final touches on the Shabbos repast. Shmuel and Yona have traveled far, spiritually and over several continents, to come to usher in the Sabbath in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Born in Cameroon, Africa, Shmuel was raised as a Roman Catholic, attending mass regularly, serving as an altar boy. At 18, Shmuel went to Paris to enroll in an engineering program at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie. Fascinated by a program on astrophysics, Shmuel changed his major to physics, in which he eventually obtained his Ph.D.

A native Parisian, Yonah had a traditional upbringing, attended Jewish school, kept kosher and celebrated Shabbat meals with her family. The pervasive anti-Semitism in French society gave Yonah a strong sense of Jewish identity, but not necessarily a positive one. "I felt that I needed to respect certain limitations because I was Jewish. But I would never tell anyone I was Jewish and expose myself to the hatred.

"Since I kept kosher, have an Italian sounding name, Sandra, and a Mediterranean complexion, I told people I'm an Italian vegetarian! I could hear what people think about Jews, since they would speak openly in front of me."

Yonah and Shmuel led the typical free lives of university students. During the second year of Shmuel's Ph.D program, a mutual friend introduced Yonah to Shmuel as a Jewish woman.

She started discussing kosher, Shmuel recalls. "Yonah did something very strange by bringing up this topic, not at all the normal thing done in Paris at the time."

"Shmuel and his friend laughed at me," interjects Yonah. "I stood up and scolded them. 'How can you talk about something you don't even know. You are ignorant!' and I promptly left. "

When they met six months later, Shmuel apologized, and Yonah again had a fiery retort. "You are ignorant! Go to the library, read up on Judaism, - then come back and talk to me."

They dated for a year. "After a while," Shmuel recalls," Yonah asked me not to eat non -kosher meat. I didn't understand why, but I did it out of respect for her and her religion."

But this was not enough for Yonah's mother, whose opposition to intermarriage led to strife in the family.

Shmuel soon received a post-doctoral position at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. The strength of Yonah's background and commitment came through. "Initially, we couldn't afford a car, and no meat was available locally. So we ate fish, tuna, vegetables, rice and the like. After buying a car, we traveled 100 miles to Montreal monthly to buy meat and freeze it. There we were out in Sherbrooke, alone and free, and we could have done whatever we wanted. Yet I lit candles and made a Shabbos meal every Friday night.

"After a while Shmuel started to sing the songs with me, and wanted to learn, since it was part of my tradition. Though there were many contradictions in my life, I felt close to G-d when I lit candles and when I kept kosher."

Yonah's mother had been urging Shmuel to convert. His sincere reply was, "I can't convert to something I know nothing about. I must really know and understand in order to believe."

For four years, Shmuel read both religious and popular Jewish authors, especially the history of the Jews and Kabbalah, when "something in me awakened and convinced me to go further."

Yonah remembers him declaring, "I think I want to be Jew." " 'Why?' I asked him. 'The commandments- they don't give you limitations, they give you freedom," he replied. Shmuel felt spiritually elevated by keeping kosher, celebrating Shabbat, and the few mitzvos we observed. 'Otherwise I'm just an animal,' he continued. 'I eat, I sleep - the commandments make me happier with myself. I like the idea that Judaism isn't a one-day a week affair. There's no separation between life and religion."

Shmuel's interest in conversion motivated them to attend weekly classes in Montreal. "We had a bad car, and the wintry snow and ice conditions were terrible," Yonah recalls. "The Rabbi discouraged our conversion while we lived so far from a Jewish community. But we continued studying. Shmuel actually knew more than most of the students from his reading.

"We soon started keeping Shabbos completely. We often joked that G-d was surely watching us, the only two people in Sherbrooke doing Shabbos. "

When Yonah had to return to Paris for a month, it was a month of deepening awareness for Shmuel. He read the Torah and Prophets nightly. "I decided this was the source of life and good, and that I would make the commitment."

How does a physicist studying the forces of creation accept Torah beliefs? What about contradictions between Torah and science? Shmuel responds in his usual quiet, thoughtful and articulate manner. "Like everyone, I sometimes I have doubts, but I know science is only a human attempt to understand nature. Science has its limits, and is based on certain assumptions. Those assumptions must be accepted as a starting point. I believe God is the source of Creation."

How is Shmuel's open belief and practice taken in the halls of academia? Yonah speaks for her modest husband. "He often encounters cynicism, but he doesn't care. Shmuel tells me of many interesting discussions he has about the Big Bang and other matters. He stands his ground.

"The writings and research of many modern physicists and mathematicians are fully compatible with Jewish beliefs."

In 1999 they moved to Cincinnati, where Shmuel took a post-doctoral position at the University of Cincinnati. This began a period of accelerated spiritual growth. Shmuel explains, "When we came to Cincinnati, it was wonderful to live within walking distance of a shul. At first I was shy, but the community was warm and welcoming. These two years were very stressful in my work, and spending Shabbos with the community helped me cope. It gave me a break from daily life, a day of immersion in praying and learning.

"The conversion process gained momentum, guided by Rabbi Shalom Kalmanson. When I actually converted in December of '99, it was a great moment. It's not easy to put into words or relate the feeling or experience."

In March of 2000, Yonah and Shmuel were ready to upgrade their marriage, beyond merely a civil union, and sanctify it by the laws of Moses and Israel. Rabbi Kalmanson officiated at Shmuel and Yonah's Jewish wedding in Paris, where the family joined the celebration.

"It was the best day of our lives," Yonah relates with a smile. "Naomi found great comfort and support from her daughter- in-law, Ruth, "your daughter-in-law, who loves you..."

Yonah's mother shares similar feelings about her son-in-law, whose marriage to her daughter she once opposed. "Now, my mother and grandmother love Shmuel like a son, and they are very close," exclaims Yonah.

What are their future plans? Infinite spiritual possibilities" says Shmuel.. "Once on this path, we are constantly growing. We still have questions, and issues come up. We try to do our duty in the world, to live and radiate the word of G-d."