48 | DECEMBER 22 • 2022 

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

T

he Southfield creator 
of The Easy-Shmeezy
language books has 
hit store shelves yet again 
with his latest, The World’s 
Funniest Joke Book, published 
by Menucha Publishers. 
Even the book’s jacket 
cover earns a smile. In large 
block letters the words “#1 
New York Times bestseller” 
jump out and only when 
someone holds the book 
closer and lifts their glasses 
will they see the words in 
small print directly above 
that: “Hoping to one day be 
a …” 
Moshe Sherizen, with his 
quick wit and easy smile, said 
the joke book was a natural 
progression. 
“I always liked to make 
people laugh, even when I 
was a kid,” Sherizen said, “A 
few years ago, I consciously 
started telling more jokes. I’d 
tell jokes with the cashiers at 
Home Depot — ‘How much 
is a chimney? Nothing, it’s 
on the house!’ — and they’d 
start cracking up. Even the 
people at City Hall, everyone 
would be all stressed about 
the sewer pipe bursting, 
everything’s chaos and I’d 

come in and offer 
some comic relief. 
Learning to read 
a room and tell a 
joke at just the right 
time is an art … I 
didn’t master that so well 
as a kid!”
The idea of compiling 
a joke book had been 
simmering in Sherizen’s mind 
for a few years, but once he 
buckled down and began 
compiling jokes — some 
from online and some which 
he thought of himself — it 
took about six months until it 
was ready for publication. 
While the pocket-sized 
joke book is filled with droll 
one-liners and clever puns 
such as “dogs can’t operate 
MRI machines, but catscan,” 
it’s much more than just 
jokes. Sherizen also included 
instructions on how to invent 
jokes, a glossary for words 
kids may not understand 
and informational fun facts 
written by his childhood 
friend Avrumi Lorkis. 
“When someone learns in 
the context of a joke, they’re 
not likely to forget it so 
quickly,” Sherizen said. 
The husband of 17 years to 

Batya and father of six 
“grew up” in Detroit. 
“Well,” Sherizen 
quickly corrects himself, 
“I’m like Peter Pan. I 
didn’t really grow up. I’m 
not interested in growing 
up, but I spent my formative 
years here, yes.” He works 
as a project manager for a 
multi-family investment firm 
based out of Israel. 

AN ATTITUDE 
OF GRATITUDE
“Life just happens every day; 
things aren’t always perfect,” 
Sherizen said. “For everyone 
over the age of 5, there’s 
always going to be some 
tough stuff. We can’t always 
control circumstances, but 

we can control our mindset 
… and gratitude is the key 
to turning an ordinary life 
extraordinary.”
About six months ago, 
Sherizen decided to invent 
a persona — The Gratitude 
Dude — and logo and swag 
to go with it. Yes, he did it 
backwards. It was only after 
that that he decided how 
he’d go about spreading the 
message! 

Moshe 
Sherizen poses 
with some of his 
Gratitude Dude 
swag while enjoy-
ing his morning 
coffee.

PHOTO CREDIT

Spreading laughter with books 
and workshops.

The Gratitude 
Dude

PHOTO CREDIT

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

