Quick Facts
Biography
Joseph Joel (Yosef Yehudah) Sherman (born 1980) is an American marketing strategist and artist. Sherman is a convert to Judaism. He lectures about his conversion and about Torah.
Early life
Sherman was born in Anaheim, California, and was raised in Riverside, California. At the age of 10 he spoke at a public hearing regarding noise pollution at Riverside Municipal Airport. Sherman wrote and delivered his own speech to city council members explaining that it was hard to do homework with airplanes constantly flying overhead, and that more airplanes would make studying more difficult. At the age of 11. he was team captain of his elementary school's KidQuiz team, a Saturday morning children's game show on CBS2 in Los Angeles. At the age of 16 he was recruited by the University of California to participate in a young scientists research program. At this program Sherman worked in a National Institutes of Health-sponsored laboratory developing neurotransmitter sensors for brain research.
Education
Sherman studied at The University of California, San Diego and served on the UCSD Diversity Council. Sherman studied under anthropologist Charles L. Briggs He lectured about The Legitimization of Terrorism. Sherman was a resident at The International House (I-House) on Eleanor Roosevelt College.
Sherman completed his MBA at Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Marseille-Provence (KEDGE Business School) in Marseille, France. He wrote a book on Euro-Mediterranean Corporate Financial Structures based on his research at Kedge.
Religion
Listening to him talk about his studies at a yeshiva in Jerusalem, about his life as a Jew, about God, it is hard to believe that only a few short years ago he was a practicing Christian who although not officially ordained, held a position as a lay minister in North Carolina where he lived. His transformation did not happen overnight, but took years of soul-searching and study.
Sherman is a convert to Judaism. He has been featured in Israeli media about his conversion experience, and about his artwork. Mishpacha magazine describes how people could not believe that the man in a beard, peyot, and traditional long black coat was once the gentile buying the chametz from Jerusalem's Beth Din before Passover. The Orthodox Union described Sherman as "originally an Evangelical Christian youth minister who began to question religion as a teenager. Follow his journey around the world where he studied neuroscience and business until today settled in Israel as a Jew heavily involved in Israel advocacy".
Jerusalem Online News, a subsidiary of Channel 2, describes how Sherman's art is inspired by Judaism. "As part of the Kotel (Western Wall) series, Sherman is painting doves of peace and other beautiful birds flying over the skyline of the Kotel... Sherman artistically portrays the vibrant celebrations that occur at Jewish weddings that take place beside the remnants of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem."
Sherman has donated paintings in memory of The Righteous Among the Nations to The Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in the State of Israel, The Serbian Embassy in Israel, The Slovak Embassy in Israel, The Embassy of Belgium in Israel, The Embassy of Hungary in Tel-Aviv, and The Austrian Cultural Forum Tel Aviv.
Business career
Sherman has been profiled and cited for his business advice by The Harvard Business Review, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Inc. Magazine. Sherman has written for The Jerusalem Post, Engadget, and The Times of Israel.