Joshua's father, who was a Rabbi, was killed when Joshua was 18, leaving his mother with no income. His mother had a brother in Ireland, so she sent Joshua there to earn some money to send home, even though he wanted to go to university to become a doctor.

In Ireland, Joshua became a minister to a few small communities; first in Limerick and then in Port Talbot in Wales. He was liked by the community, and he ate in a different house every night.

Eventually Joshua applied to be a shochet in Birmingham, which is where he met his would-be wife Ethel. He originally wanted to marry her sister Mabel, but she refused to marry the shochet!

When the pair married, Ethel stopped working even though her job was better paid, so they had very little money. This became even harder during the Second World War when the synagogue said they were reducing his salary because there would be less work for him as they were going to need less meat.