Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

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.

Children’s Book Relates the Odyssey of the Sarajevo Haggadah

Approximately 673 years ago, the Sarajevo Haggadah was given as a wedding present, not in Bosnia but in Spain, where it remained until 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled those Jews who would not convert to Catholicism.  The ancient and beautifully illustrated narration of the Passover seder was a treasure that the Jewish family carried with it over the generations, first to Italy and later to Sarajevo, Bosnia. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jenny Camhi: Building Jewish Community in North County

While not everyone was Jewish, “we had a community ketuba of values” in which it was agreed that “we all come from different faith backgrounds, but we can agree that innovation, caring for one another, caring for the environment, and acting with intention were the things that we all wanted to do. So, we had one of our Hive members create a community ketuba (a written contract, usually for marriages.) We illustrated it and we all signed it.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

San Diego Jewish World ‘Sold’ Back to Donald H. Harrison for $2

SAN DIEGO — Veteran journalist Donald H. Harrison has reacquired ownership of San Diego Jewish World and will resume as its publisher and editor as of January 1, 2024, it was jointly announced by Harrison and Jacob Kamaras, the current publisher. In a celebrated $1 sale effective January 1, 2022, Kamaras became the publisher and

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Donald H. Harrison, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County

Javier Guerrero: Growing and Distributing Food in Accordance with Jewish Ethical Teachings at Coastal Roots Farm

After four years heading Coastal Roots Farm, first as executive director, and later as the President and CEO of the independent, nonprofit farm, Guerrero can sling around a lot of Hebrew, some of which may be unfamiliar to non-Hebrew speaking American Jews. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Charlene Seidle: Passion for North County San Diego and Israel

Editor’s Note: This is the 13th chapter in Volume 3 of Editor Emeritus Donald H. Harrison’s 2022 trilogy, “Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.”  All three books as well as others written by Harrison may be purchased from Amazon.com. Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5, Volume 3, Exit 41B (Encinitas Boulevard): Leichtag Commons From northbound Interstate

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Ben Dishman, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Judaism, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

The Pam Ferris Formula: Happy Employees Make for Happy Residents at Seacrest Village

She said that there is a “joy of serving and working with older adults. They have lived before us; they have all this rich history. They are wiser; they have all this experience that you haven’t had.  If you are smart, you will listen and learn from them.”[Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Fred Kropveld, Judaism, San Diego County

Home in Israel or U.S.A.? A Couple’s Dilemma

This is a memoir of an American falling in love with a French man who is more traditional in his religious observance than she is.  They marry and live for a while in France, but Israel calls to him.  She wants to live in the familiar U.S. of A.  He wants his family to be raised as traditional Jews in Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA

Rabbi Wayne Dosick: San Diego County’s Longest-Serving Rabbi and Still One of Its Most Innovative

Some people become increasingly conservative as they age; but the reverse has been true in Dosick’s life. He grew up in a Conservative congregation but decided to enter the Reform seminary of Hebrew Union College because he objected to the Jewish Theological Seminary of the Conservative movement on two grounds.  First, it still separated men and women during prayer services and Dosick opposed mehitzahs (physical barriers). Second the JTS leadership was then on record supporting the war in Vietnam in the mistaken belief that if the U.S. left Vietnam to the Communists, its support for Israel against its enemies also might be shaky. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

Jewish Professor Barred from USC Campus Following Argument with Anti-Israel Students

The propaganda war between supporters of Israel and supporters of Hamas has prompted the administration of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles to ban John Strauss, a Jewish professor of economics, from teaching on the campus, but he is permitted to conduct classes via Zoom. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Harrison Relates Jewish Stories From Along the Interstate 5

Donald H. Harrison, author of a three-volume book on Jewish life in San Diego County along the Interstate 5, will describe his methodology and share some of the stories in a presentation from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 2, at Yiddishland, 1128 Wall Street, La Jolla. [SDJW Staff]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Shooting in Vermont of 3 Palestinian Students is Reprehensible

Unprovoked shootings are never justified, no matter what the world situation may be.  I would like to extend my sympathy to Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, as well as to their families.  It is outrageous that a gunman would commit such a horrendous act anywhere, and especially here in the pluralistic United States. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Opinion, USA

The Philanthropy of Ernest and Evelyn Rady

These NICUs as well as Rady Children’s Hospital itself are named for Jewish businessman and philanthropist Ernest Rady, a native of Winnipeg, Canada. He and his wife Evelyn moved in 1966 when he was 29 to San Diego and proceeded to make a fortune in banking, finance insurance, oil and gas, and real estate. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Anti-Israel Cartoon Roils Sweetwater Union High School District

An anti-Israel, anti-American cartoon that appeared in the Bonita Vista High School newspaper has sparked a controversy that has escalated to the point that San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan has said her office will look into whether a hate crime has been committed. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA