Shalom was born in Jerusalem’s Old-City to his parents Chaim and Lulu on August 14, 1933. His father was a stonemason, one of Jerusalem’s builders and notables. The mother, a housewife, lovingly raised 12 children despite poverty and harsh conditions. Youngest son Yigal died during the Yom Kippur War. Yoseph studied at Talmud-Torah ‘Mizrachi’, ‘Porat-Yoseph’ Yeshiva and high-school. He was a member of ‘Ezra’ youth, later Beitar. As a boy, he swore allegiance to Lehi at ‘Sha’arei-Tsedek’ neighbourhood. His initial activity was pasting up info-bulletins, distributing info-material. Soon he began doing surveillance in central Jerusalem, under guise of selling fruit or shining shoes. Arrested by the CID, he got sent to prison, where they unsuccessfully tried to squeeze information from him through severe beatings. After some days he got released. He confiscated weapons from British Policemen for the underground. During the War of Independence he was posted to ‘Yoav’ Base in Sheikh- Bader, and received weapons-training there. Afterwards he was transferred to ‘Eldad’ Base in Lifta, until the Bernadotte assassination, when Lehi camps were closed down by Jewish authorities and members were arrested. He worked as a messenger at ‘Lewitzky’ law firm, then joined the IDF, serving as radio operator in the Air-Force. He worked in the ‘Clalit Healthcare’ organization at adminisrative positions. He was among the founders of ‘Soroka’ Hospital Beer-Sheba where he eventually became Administrative Manager and was awarded the ‘Namir’ Labour Prize. He was transferred to the Healthcare headquarters supervising and managing ‘Kaplan’ and ‘Hertzfeld’ hospitals, then retiring 1995. He continued studying and completed Business Management at Tel-Aviv University. Shalom holds an Education degree and a degree in Industrial Engineering and Administration of Medical Facilities. He studied Law at Ramat-Gan College.
He was among the founders of ‘Nitsan’, (Foundation for the Support of Children with Learning Disabilities) and served in committees at Beer-Sheba’s City Council. Since 1960 he’s been living in Beer-Sheba with his wife Dora, a nurse. They have three children and five grandchildren.