Donald H. Harrison

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — In nearly every costume imaginable, including some Esthers and Mordechais, members and friends of Tifereth Israel Synagogue on March 4 held a Purim carnival, featuring a wide variety of games, prizes, activities and, of course, hamantaschen, looking forward to the joyous holiday that will be officially celebrated […]

San Diego Judge Mayor: How Murphy’s Law Blindsided Leadership with 2020 Vision by Dick Murphy, Sunbelt Publications, 2011, 191 pages, $22.50 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –As a local historian, I am very pleased that Dick Murphy, the 33rd mayor of San Diego, has written a book about his life and career.  I wish

-Third in a Series- By Donald H. Harrison BORREGO SPRINGS, California– Utilizing a  converted military troop-carrier-and-cargo truck, California Overland Desert Excursions offers visitors to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park the combination of three off-road adventures in a single trip.  The company’s owner, Joe Raffetto, utilizes both of his previous careers–advertising man and biologist–to make the

  -Second in a Series- By Donald H. Harrison BORREGO SPRINGS, California — Today if one stares at the ridge line of the mountain behind the Palms at Indian Head, one can make out nature’s sculpture of an Indian who evidently was lying on his back and contemplating the bright stars in this desert town’s

-First in a series- By Donald H. Harrison BORREGO SPRINGS, California –Diana Lindsay’s excellent illustrated book Ricardo Breceda: Accidental Artist prepared my wife Nancy and me to see the amazing giant sculptures of prehistoric and imaginary animals standing, feeding, nursing, or fighting in vast private stretches of land  owned by Dennis Avery,  heir to the

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– The Harlem Globetrotters still do some pretty amazing dribbling, passing and dunking, but more and more, it seems, they elevate members of their audiences–particularly children–into their co-stars. Such was the case at Valley View Casino Center (formerly the San Diego Sports Arena) on Friday night, Feb. 17, when

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Already Jewish Family Service has named the administrative wing of its Turk Family Center at 8804  Balboa Avenue for Jill Borg Spitzer.   If some visitors walking down the corridor should chance to look up and ask, “What did she do?” how would they be answered? The community

Haazinu (Listen Up): A Book of Prophecy by Yerachmiel Ben-Yishe, Gefen Publishing House, 2011, 268 pages, ISBN 9789652295347,Retail price unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Family members and an ex-lover of terminally ill patients gather before and after their hospital visits to share their sorrowful memories and to reflect on life’s larger purpose.  In

By Donald H. Harrison LA JOLLA, California — San Diego State University History Prof. Lawrence Baron was greeted with a full house Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Warwick’s Bookstore for his talk about The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema, an anthology he edited of movie analyses by 49 authors, including three from San Diego: himself,

Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult’s Guide to Building a Jewish Life, 2nd Edition by Rabbi Edward Feinstein, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2012, 140 pages, ISBN 978-1-58023-454-2-51599,  U.S. cover price: $15.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Some years ago I interviewed a spokesperson for the Home Instruction for the Parents of Pre-School Youngsters program (or

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Congregation Beth Israel, celebrating its sesquicentennial year, on Thursday evening, Jan. 19, honored some five dozen past and present leaders from its congregation who have built and led the organizations that serve the Jewish community of San Diego.  It treated these leaders and other members of the Reform congregation