Donald H. Harrison

Seacrest Foundation Gala July 8 to Salute Pam Ferris

Seacrest Foundation will present the Women’s Auxiliary 80th Anniversary Ruby Jubilee Gala on Saturday evening, July 8. This is an extraordinarily special event to celebrate 80 years of Seacrest Village Retirement Communities being a lifeline in our community, while honoring Pam Ferris, President and CEO of Seacrest Village, for her 35 years of dedicated leadership. [Press Release]

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San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

Young Israel Moved from Tenant to Landlord in San Carlos Neighborhood

Young Israel of San Diego has progressed from renter to landlord in the small shopping center diagonally across from the trailhead of Cowles Mountain in the San Carlos neighborhood.  Rabbi Eddie Rosenberg says the turnaround in the small Orthodox congregation’s fortunes was “miraculous.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

Rescued Animals Help Children Learn about Conservation at SeaWorld

Spike, the alligator, was discovered 32 years ago in Los Angeles in someone’s bathtub. If an alligator is discovered in the wild, and in need of rescue because of an injury, it is released back to the wild after being nursed to health.  However, in the case of alligators found illegally in domestic settings, they are taken to live permanently at rescue centers because the circumstances of their breeding are unknown.  Alligators that are in-bred by unscrupulous breeders may carry defective genes that should not be released into the wild alligator gene pool, Kerschner explained. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori, The World We Share, Travel and Food

Music Was the Beginning of Her Love Story

My love of music even brought me the love of my life. After first meeting at a student party we quickly found out that we both loved classical music, especially chamber music, and our first ‘dates’ consisted of listening to one another’s records of our favorite compositions. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Travel and Food

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Padma Lakshmi

She ‍has ‍written ‍many ‍food-related ‍books, ‍including ‍‍The ‍Encyclopedia ‍of ‍Spices ‍and ‍Herbs: ‍An ‍Essential ‍Guide ‍to ‍the ‍Flavors ‍of ‍the ‍World ‍and ‍‍Love, ‍Loss, ‍and ‍What ‍We ‍Ate: ‍A ‍Memoir. ‍What ‍is ‍a ‍Jewish ‍connection ‍in ‍Padma ‍Lakshmi’s ‍life? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Master Woodworker Bill Goldschneider Focuses on Jewish Themes

He has created so much Judaica that he stands ready to exhibit more than 50 pieces if an appropriate venue can be found, such as a synagogue or a Jewish center. He even has devised special cases in which to transport his creations, so that such an exhibition can be taken on the road. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Judaism, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Reform Rabbi Draws on His Jewish and Latino Heritage

His parents’ diverse cultural backgrounds “in one way were symbiotic and, in others, very separate, Nevarez reflected. “At different times in my life, I was uncomfortable about them; I didn’t know how to wed the two.” Later in life, however, “I have not only embraced it; it has actually extended my capacity to do what I do in the world, which is my rabbinate, and to be able to be in a relationship with different cultures and ethnicities because of my background.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County

‘A Small Light’ Leaves a Big Impression about the Holocaust

Many of us grew up with the story of Anne Frank. I read her diary, saw a movie and plays about her, read books by people who knew her, even interviewed one of her contemporaries. Although I was quite familiar with the important role Miep Gies had played in Anne Frank’s life, it was not until I watched this dramatization that I came to understand the intensity of Miep’s experience and the vast contours of her bravery as well as that of her husband Jan. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

San Diego Unified School District Board Formally Recognizes Jewish American Heritage Month

With only one day of Jewish American Heritage Month remaining, the San Diego Unified School Board on Tuesday, May 30, unanimously recognized May as Jewish American Heritage Month and encouraged “staff, students, and community members to raise awareness and educate future generations about Jewish Americans and their role in the diverse fabric of our country and communities and in the American experience.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Year-Long Holocaust Exhibition Features Survivors Who Settled in S.D. County

There is much to read in addition to the shelved books at the Rancho San Diego County Library.  From now until next May 21, which will be the one-year anniversary of a Holocaust exhibition curated by Sandra Scheller, visitors can read on standing panels a brief timeline of the Holocaust and the experiences of some victims who suffered through it and later settled in San Diego County. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Fred Kropveld, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County

Eagle Scout Builds an Aron Kodesh for Chabad Congregation

At the dedication on Sunday, considerable symbolism was found in a Cohen (believed to be descended from the priests of ancient Judaism) to have built an Ark at a synagogue named after “Betzalel,” which in addition to being the name of Rabbi Trestman’s father also was the name of the person identified in the Book of Exodus as the man who built the Ark of the Covenant, with the help of Oholiab. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

JPlate: SHIVA

Here is a Jewish-interest license plate that puzzled Harry Jacobson-Beyer of Louisville, Kentucky, and frankly puzzles us too.  A shiva is the seven-day mourning period following the burial of a loved one.  If that is what “shiva” on this license plate refers to, then we offer the owner of the car bearing this license plate our condolences. We are used to license plates being more celebratory in nature, but people grieve in their own ways.  If on the other hand, the car owner sought to convey some other message, well, he or she is likely to notice now and then some confused Jewish drivers in the rear-view mirror.

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Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Jewish Philanthropist Mandell Weiss Gave Famed La Jolla Playhouse Its Home

It is a playhouse with good yichus.  It was started in 1947 by three movie stars – Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer—with the financial backing of movie producer David D. Selznick, who was then best known for his 1939 blockbuster Gone With the Wind. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA