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.
Rabbis sometimes invent short stories or elaborate on Jewish folktales to amplify the readings in Jewish Scriptures. Such a tale is known as a midrash. With Comic-Con in town November 26-28 and my grandson Shor in attendance, I learned that comic book writers also engage in a bit of midrashim. [Donald H. Harrison]
A Midrash on Samson at Comic-Con Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Shor M. MasoriBrazilian-born San Diegan Carla Berg has issued a music video in Ladino, with English subtitles, in which she teaches that we can make our own Chanukah miracles by bringing light to other people’s lives. [Donald H. Harrison]
San Diegan Records Chanukah Music Video in Ladino Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
This is a painful book to read, dealing as it does in the mentally abusive treatment author Portnoy said she suffered at the hands of her parents, brother, boyfriend, and college administrators both in the United States and Israel. There seemed no end to Portnoy’s complaints. [Donald H. Harrison]
Memoir Tells of Climb from Abuse and Low Self-Esteem Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles
French journalist Anne Sinclair confesses she had long felt guilty about not asking her late paternal grandfather Léonce Schwartz to tell her about his internment at a little-known concentration camp on the outskirts of Paris. Known by the French as the Royallieu-Compiegne Concentration Camp, and by the Nazi Germans as Frontstalag 122, it was not as well-known as Drancy, the notorious French transit point to the Nazi killing camps in Poland. However, the prisoners there were treated just as callously. Starvation, lice, frostbite were common ailments purposely neglected by the Nazis in their effort to humiliate and winnow the French Jewish population [Donald H. Harrison]
Journalist Documents Little Known Concentration Camp Near Paris Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History
Iranian-born San Diegan Ari Honarvar has written a novel juxtaposing the gentle mysticism of the Sufi sect of Islam with life under the strict fundamentalist interpretation of Islam in modern-day Revolutionary Iran. [Donald H. Harrison]
Novel of Iran Juxtaposes Ancient Love with Modern-Day Hate Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Jewish books from the PJ Library are mailed free every month to 680,000 Jewish children to be read to them at bedtime by their parents or guardians. Yes, you can thank Harold Grinspoon, the Massachusetts real estate entrepreneur who funds much of this philanthropy, along with Winnie Sandler Grinspoon, his daughter-in-law who serves as president of his Foundation. [Donald H. Harrison]
Dolly Parton Inspired the PJ Library Program for Jewish Children Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Judaism, Lifestyles, USA
Author Ethan Michaeli is an American journalist with a knack for schmoozing with people wherever he goes. While he lives in Chicago, his older brother and parents live in Israel. He travels frequently to Israel to see his Hungarian-born parents and his brother, and whenever he does so, he likes to go touring around the country, meeting people from as many different backgrounds as possible. [Donald H. Harrison]
Sampling Israel’s Ethnic Groups and Restaurants Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Travel and Food
Migrant rights advocate Enrique Morones told a Tifereth Israel Synagogue audience that the United States should adopt an immigration policy that is more coherent and more humane. [Donald H. Harrison]
Enrique Morones: U.S. Must Be More Welcoming to Migrants Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, USA
Bert Edelstein elevated his hand one foot above the table at which he was sitting. “My correspondence file is almost this thick,” he commented. He sent letters to the House of Representatives and the Senate. After the House adopted legislation to recognize the Ghost Army with a Congressional Gold Medal, the focus turned to the U.S. Senate. Under the rules, for the measure even to be considered in committee, it must have at least 67 co-sponsors — two-thirds of the full Senate. The count is getting closer and closer. [Donald H. Harrison]
Psychologist Advocates for Recognition of The Ghost Army Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
After raising the flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, military veterans at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, shared some of the happier stories about their time in the military or just afterwards. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish Veterans Swap Favorite Stories of Military Times Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USAShoshana Grossbard, a respected economist who serves as editor in chief of the Review of Economics of the Household, has urged Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman and San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan to look into the circumstances surrounding the domination of the nonprofit Friendship Circle of San Diego (FCSD) by the family of disgraced Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway. [Donald H. Harrison]
More Questions Raised About Governance of Friendship Circle of San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
This Young Adult novel focuses on the friendship between Eleanor (Leni) Greenberg, who is Jewish, and Chanel (Nelly) Irons, who is African-American. Although they are members of different religious and racial groups, the two have been fast friends since childhood. However, the friendship comes under stress during their senior year of high school when Leni is chosen as the team’s captain, even after being out most of the previous year with an injury, and Chanel, a natural leader of the team in the interim, has been passed over. [Donald H. Harrison]
Novel Paints Stresses on Cheerleaders Who Take a Knee Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
In a style reminiscent of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs of Disney fame, this book, reissued for Hanukkah, features a series of unidimensional characters with Yiddish names: Noshy Boy, Kvetchy Boy, Shmutzy Girl, Klutzy Boy, Shluffy Girl, Shleppy Boy, Kibbitzy Girl, and Keppy Girl. [Donald H. Harrison]
Chanukah with Some Stereotypical Yiddish Characters Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
Abe Goldberg’s mother, Bronia, and stepfather Harry Sajgeman died within three months of each other in the mid-1980s, but due perhaps to a communications error, most people at Tifereth Israel Synagogue were unaware that he and his wife, Bea, were sitting shiva, alone, at their home. Because the Goldbergs lacked the ten Jewish adults necessary to say kaddish during the seven-day mourning period, they were left feeling forlorn. [Donald H. Harrison]
A Grateful Synagogue Bids a Surprise Farewell to Constant Volunteers Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA