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.
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – News came over the Internet about a Florida man being arrested on Wednesday after he was found in possession of a still living Goliath Grouper which he had caught off a bridge in Islamorada. Goliath Groupers, which can grow to 800 pounds, are a protected species. The one […]
Judaism, Islam, and a fish walk into an article… Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
El, the elephant, offers to help the boy find God. So off they go, the boy on El’s back, and they see a flower and a meadow; feel the effects of the wind and the sun; and the coolness of river water. The boy asks when they will find God, and El explains that the boy already had met God in the beauty of the flower; the peacefulness of the meadow; the strong winds; the warmth of the sun; and the life-giving, thirst-quenching water of the river. [Donald H. Harrison]
Juvenile Fiction: Elephant Helps a Boy Find God Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
This is an American Jewish novel about two families coming to terms with the fact that the fictional resort that best friends Benny Goldman and Amos Weingold founded in the Catskill Mountains has long passed its prime. The Golden Hotel no longer is booked to capacity, nor even near capacity, and the once famous Borscht Belt resort has quite obvious wear and tear to show its decline. [Donald H. Harrison]
Novel Portrays Catskill’s Post-Borscht Belt Era Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, USA
In her zany account of her travels out west from her home in Plantation, Florida, Shari Wallack never got to San Diego, so I didn’t get the chance to see how her impressions of my hometown might match up with my own experiences. If the two jibed, then I’d probably put utmost faith into her accounts of other places. As it was, I simply had to enjoy her impressions of diverse locales between New York and Utah. Also, I was astonished by her reliance on serendipity and good Jewish cooking to turn even prosaic locales into adventures. [Donald H. Harrison]
An American Jewish Memoir of Food and Travel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Travel and Food, USA
Attorney Daniel P. Shapiro deeply loved his wife Susan and their three children. He and Susan had enjoyed special moments together; places, songs, meals that ignited memories; meaningful yet unspoken understandings typical of the happily married. And then disaster in the form of a brain hemorrhage happened. Susan slurred her speech, lost her mobility, and seemed unable to relate with the rest of her family. [Donald H. Harrison]
Dual Tragedies of a Patient with a Brain Hemorrhage and Her Caregiver Husband Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles
In 2009, Enrique Morones, then the leader of Border Angels, was presented by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon with an award conferred by the Human Rights Commission of Mexico. The impressive ceremony in Mexico City honored Morones’ decades of work protecting undocumented migrants who brave harsh terrain and insufferable temperatures to seek new lives in the United States. In an acceptance speech, Morones urged Mexicans not to come to the United States, telling them that they were needed to build their own nation. ‘We are Mexicans, and Mexico’s future is here in Mexico, not America,” he pleaded. “Mexicans, do not go.” [Donald H. Harrison]
Shapers of the Immigration Debate: Enrique Morones Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, USAUnless overturned on appeal, a case brought against gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and gun store San Diego Guns will be permitted to proceed on behalf of the victims of the April 27, 2019 shooting at Chabad of Poway, which occurred on the last day of Passover. [Donald H. Harrison]
Suit Okayed Against Gun Manufacturer, Store in Chabad of Poway Shooting Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
Rewards totaling $2,000 are being offered by Crime Stoppers and the Anti-Defamation League “for information that leads to an arrest” of the two young women who were seen on security video vandalizing the Chabad House at San Diego State University in the early morning hours of Friday, June 25. [Donald H. Harrison]
Activities and staffing are returning to pre-pandemic levels at various San Diego County synagogues, with Temple Emanu-El in the San Diego State University area hosting a Palestinian refugee who is highly critical the Palestinian Authority’s human rights record. Tifereth Israel Synagogue in the San Carlos neighborhood, meanwhile, has announced it has hired a new executive director. [Donald H. Harrison]
S.D. Synagogues Welcome Palestinian Speaker, Executive Director Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
After more than a year absence because of the coronavirus pandemic, the House of Pacific Relations in Balboa Park reopened to visitors over the July 4th weekend. So named because relations among nations should be “pacific” or “peaceful” — and not a reference to the ocean that washes San Diego’s shores — The House of Pacific Relations includes the House of Israel (HOI), which marked the reopening with a flag raising ceremony. [Donald H. Harrison]
Flag Raising Marks Reopening of House of Israel in Balboa Park Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, USAI believe some of the most important unsung heroes of non-Orthodox Judaism are the spouses of pulpit rabbis. We don’t pay them, but more often than not, we expect them to devote their lives to our synagogues. We want them to attend every social occasion, be there near the front of the sanctuary on Shabbat evening and morning, to recognize all of us by first and last name, and to be able to chant the blessings before and after the reading of the Torah whenever someone is needed for an aliyah. [Donald H. Harrison]
Let’s Have Compassion for the Rabbi’s Spouse Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA
As a boy, I loved hearing the story about the early childhood of my father, Martin B. Harrison, who was born on the 4th of July, 1910. To paraphrase the great Irish-American lyricist George M. Cohan, dad was a “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Until dad reached the age of 5, his parents — M. Joseph and Florence Harrison — had him persuaded that the nation held all those parades and shot off all those fireworks in celebration of his birthday. When he got to kindergarten, however, he learned the truth. The celebration was for the birth of the American nation, and not specifically for little Marty. [Donald H. Harrison]
‘Thank you, America’ from the Depths of My Jewish Heart Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USAAs vaccination rates increase and the coronavirus pandemic seemingly is being brought under control, group trips to Israel from San Diego are again being organized. One of the first to be publicized is a joint trip planned for May 15-29, 2022 and sponsored by the San Diego Outreach Synagogue and the Desert Outreach Synagogue, to be led respectively by Rabbi/ Cantor Cheri Weiss and Rabbi Jules King. [Donald H. Harrison]
Planning for Locally-Based Israel Trips Resumes Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USAThe leadership of the House of Israel in Balboa Park is less worried today about the possible burnout of their volunteers. which could have led to the organization being unable to keep the doors open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. That in turn could have led to the House of Israel, a Balboa Park fixture since 1948, being forced to relinquish its cottage and being replaced by the house of another nation. The pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs has come to the rescue. [Donald H. Harrison]
StandWithUs to Aid House of Israel in Balboa Park Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA