Donald H. Harrison

Israel’s Silent Defender: An Inside Look at Sixty Years of Israeli Intelligence, edited by Amos Gilbo and Ephraim Lapid, Gefen Publishing House,  Jerusalem, 2012, 385 pages including appendices, ISBN 978-965-229-528-6. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–This collection of essays by members of Israel’s intelligence establishment has been thoroughly vetted to make sure nothing therein provides […]

This Day in San Diego History by Linda H. Pequegnat, Sunbelt Publications, 2009, ISBN 978-0-932653-90-1, $19.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — There are 478 years between 1513, when Vasco Nuñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and  1991, the year of the death of

    By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — On nearly any given weekday, the Main Quad at Grossmont College is a place where a student, faculty member or staff member might find entertainment, taste new foods, hear a speaker, or sample the wares of vendors, who have the choice of paying a fee

    By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — An English professor of mixed religious background has become a leading proponent of interdisciplinary studies not only at Grossmont College, where he teaches, but throughout San Diego’s higher education community. Tate Hurvitz, whose father is Jewish and mother is Lutheran, grew up in the San

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Transporting and setting up an orchestra at a new venue is an exercise in logistics with surprises not at all uncommon, says David Amos, conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO). However, he says, the payoff is the possibility of building new audiences for classical music.  That’s what he’s

Slipping Reality by Emily Beaver, Author House, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4634-2714-6, Price Unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Not since reading such Stefan Zweig short stories as “The Royal Game” and “Letters from an Unknown Woman,” have I encountered  such a thoroughly intriguing examination of the possible effects loneliness can have on the human

    By Donald H. Harrison LA MESA, California — For those who try to link Israel to the old apartheid regime of South Africa, artist Atara-Baker, who has lived in both countries, offers an emotional rejoinder, not in her words, but in her art. Yes, the art seems to say, there is a link

Torah Tapestries: Shemos by Shira Smiles, Feldheim Publishers, 2012, Jerusalem, ISBN 978-159826-002-1, Price Unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Jewish educator Shira Smiles utilizes the various parashot from the Book of Exodus to pass on wonderful lessons for daily living, while teaching some useful Hebrew vocabulary. For example, in analyzing the portion known as Va’eira, she

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — As a youth, Gil Ya’ari, the new Israeli director of the partnership between Sha’ar Hanegev and the San Diego Jewish community, was so fascinated by environmental science that he left his home in the greater Tel Aviv area to board at a high school which offered special classes

    By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO- A Jewish ceramicist says she considers it fascinating that even a minor physical condition might influence a person’s entire personality and lifestyle.  For example, she says, someone with a lisp might decide to build a vocabulary that largely omits words with the letter ‘s.’ Now an associate