Joel Chernoff

Joel was brought up in the 1950s and 1960s part of one the very few Messianic households. He considered himself a Believer. But it wasnt until the late 60s revival, known as the Jesus Movement, that Joel had a truly life-changing experience while he was a student at the University of Cincinnati.Joel had been raised on hit parade music and at 16 he found he had a gift for writing songs. He played keyboards in a five-man band that became popular at churches, youth rallies and other community events throughout his teens. In 1972 Joel formed the group Lamb. Lamb, whose music soon came to be known as simply Messianic Music, quickly became one of the premier groups of the new movement that was sweeping the country. Recording on national labels, as well as their own independent imprint, Lamb recorded a total of 14 albums over two decades. With Lambs break-up in 1992, Joel focused his energies into several prominent organizations within the Messianic Jewish movement. Joel is currently the General Secretary of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) and also president of the International Messianic Jewish Alliance (IMJA).As of 2005 Lamb have reformed, with fellow Messianic artist Ted Pearce.Joel has a brother David (aged 54), who is a Messianic Rabbi at Congregation Beth Yeshua in Philadelphia. They are the sons of Martin and Yohanna Chernoff, the founders of Cincinnati's Beth Messiah messianic congregation.