Donald H. Harrison is the publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
Harrison began his journalism career in 1962 on the UCLA Daily Bruin. Following graduation he joined the staff of the Associated Press, and later became politics writer for The San Diego Union. Afterwards he pursued a career in tourism, helping to establish San Diego’s Cruise Ship Program as well as Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego. He also wrote for such Jewish publications as the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage and San Diego Jewish Times before starting San Diego Jewish World in 2007.
Don’s latest work is the three-volume Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.
He is the author of six previous books. Those with links may be obtained on Amazon.
Eve Gerstle, 100, last known Jewish survivor of Wiesbaden Editor’s Note: We received the unhappy news on Friday, October 23, 2015, that Eve Gerstle had died two days earlier. A Holocaust survivor who lived to see her 101st birthday, Gerstle was well-loved in her adopted San Diego community. In her memory, we reprint this story […]
Never Again: Holocaust news for October 23, 2015 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – No doubt about it, the Jewish community of San Diego made a lot of dough Thursday night, Oct. 22. And community members will bake it into challot (challahs) in time to serve them with Friday night Shabbat dinners throughout the county. It was all part of the Shabbat
Challah making draws hundreds for Shabbat San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, San Diego County
-27th in a Series– Exit 10, College Avenue, JFS College Avenue Older Adult Center By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Older adults who seek a low-cost meal plus both intellectual and physical stimulation often drop by the College Avenue Older Adult Center operated by Jewish Family Service in space rented from Temple Emanu-El at 6299 Capri
I-8 Jewish travel: Center keeps minds, bodies alert Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – What grandparent, after an absence of any significant duration, hasn’t looked at his or her grandchild, and said wonderingly, “My how big you’ve become!” Rabbi Simcha Weiser, headmaster of the Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, told an assemblage of grandparents on Wednesday, October 21, that the
When giving in is a virtue Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Donald H. Harrison CORONADO, California – It is altogether fitting that the Lambs Players Theatre here in Coronado should be the one to debut a new musical, Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Baum used to vacation at the nearby Hotel del Coronado, and some of his later stories in
‘Oz’ is a delightful new take on an old story Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
-26th in a Series– Exit 10, College Avenue, San Diego ~ Temple Emanu-El By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Temple Emanu-El, swathed in Jerusalem stone, houses a Reform congregation that has occupied this property in the Del Cerro neighborhood since 1978. Initially, there was a former Baptist church where the courtyard and sanctuary stand
I-8 Jewish Travel: Flowing waters of justice Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food
-25th in a series- Exit 9, Waring Road, San Diego ~ Tifereth Israel Synagogue By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s third home at 6660 Cowles Mountain Boulevard is a spiritual home filled with Judaic art and music. Formed initially as an Orthodox congregation in 1905, the congregation’s first synagogue at 18th
I-8 Jewish Travel: Synagogue home for the arts Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food
-24th in a Series- Exit 9, Waring Road, San Diego ~ Young Israel of San Diego By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—“Rabbi” means “teacher” and Rabbi Chaim Hollander teaches Judaic Studies at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood and at Young Israel of San Diego in the San Carlos neighborhood,
I-8 Jewish Travel: Young Israel of San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food
The Devil in Jerusalem by Naomi Ragen; St. Martin’s Press © 2015; ISBN 978-1-250-04313-9; 306 pages, $25.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This novel is well-written and suspenseful, yet exceedingly difficult to read. It is about child abuse with descriptions so graphic it will make almost any reader shudder or cringe. Author Naomi
Child abuse makes important novel hard to read Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonThe War Reporter by Martin Fletcher; St. Martin’s Press © 2015; ISBN 978-1-250-07002-9; 306 pages, $25.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Set in Sarajevo (Bosnia) during the siege, and in Belgrade (Serbia) ten years afterwards, this novel tells of television journalist Tom Layne briefly encountering Serbian General Ratko Mladic near the former war-torn city and trying
Amid chaos, ‘The War Reporter’ introspects Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
–23rd in a series– Exit 9, Waring Road, San Diego ~ Benjamin Branch Library By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – At this point I still can’t tell whether the tale of the reclusive bibliophile who only came to the public’s attention after he died, very much alone, is a “Jewish story” or not.
I-8 Jewish travel: The reclusive bibliophile Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food
Let There Be Water by Seth M. Siegel; St. Martin’s Press; © 2015; ISBN: 978-1-250-07395; 337 pages including appendices, notes, bibliography and index, $27.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Most of Israel has an arid climate, and there is a paucity of water in the rivers that flow from the mountains in the
‘Let There Be Water’ relates how Israel got it Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East
–23rd in a Series– Exit 9, Waring Road, San Diego ~ Lake Murray Tennis Club By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Soft-spoken, easy-going Saul Snyder is easy to underestimate. An opponent once told him, “you look like my accountant,” but that was before he faced Snyder across the tennis net, and lost. He learned, as many
I-8 Jewish Travel: A world champion’s tennis club Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck; St. Martin’s Press © 2015; ISBN 978-1-250-06508-1, 291 pages; $25.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – There is a kabalistic concept that everything in the universe must be balanced; that what occurs in this world also affects what happens in the after world; and that the cosmic insistence
‘The Debt of Tamar’ a kabalistic love story Read More »
Donald H. Harrison