Biography

Jim Sherman, lay leader for Shaare Zion Synagogue from 1986 to 1994 and Congregation Beth Shalom from 1994 to 1998, was born in 1932 in Sioux City, Iowa, to Reva Gilinsky Sherman and Philip Sherman. He graduated from Central High School in Sioux City and completed his B.A. at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa) in 1953. That same year he married Estelle Rosenthal and served in the U.S. Air Force for sixteen years, reaching the rank of major while at the same time pursuing a variety of business interests, including his family’s turkey processing plant, real estate, and dry cleaning businesses. He was co-founder and president of the Siouxland Economic Development Corporation and involved in many local civic organizations. Sherman worked as regional director for the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism from 1982 to 1987, taught Jewish related courses at Morningside College and Briar Cliff University between 1994 and 2001, and taught volunteer courses on Jewish issues and the Holocaust in Sioux City public and Catholic diocese schools. After moving to the Twin Cities with his wife in 2001, Sherman continued to be involved in the Jewish community, serving as the Rabbi’s Associate for Adath Jeshurun Congregation and as a service leader for Shalom Community Alliance.

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