Donald H. Harrison

‘Ripped Away’ Is a Jewish Tale of Time Travel

Here is a short time-travel novel suitable for Young Adults and older readers imagining two high school students who barely acknowledge each other being transported to Whitechapel, London, during the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.  Abe and Mitzi, who are both Jewish Americans, find themselves transformed into the 19th Century Asher and Maya, two Jewish teenage neighbors, born to impoverished immigrant families. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Loews Coronado Bay Resort: A Tisch Family Outpost

The 440-room Loews Coronado Bay Resort was opened in 1991 on a 15-acre spur of land jutting into San Diego Bay. Like other Loews Properties around the United States, it is owned by the Tisch Family, which operates the hotel business and other subsidiaries through Loews Corporation, a holding company. Tracing the Tisch family’s enterprises is an interesting study in how a family grows its wealth [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

OpEd: Whoopi Goldberg’s Mistake Wasn’t So Terrible

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Whoopi Goldberg was wrong but as far as I’m concerned, the folks at ABC and The View were too harsh when they suspended her for two weeks. Let me explain. In a discussion of the Holocaust on The View television show, Goldberg commented that the Holocaust wasn’t racist

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

Murder and Approaching Death Fill a Tale of Hoffman

Author Wayne Hoffman regales us with two concurrent non-fiction stories. His search to learn the identity of the person who murdered his great-grandmother as she lay sleeping in her bed, with an infant child at her side, occurred at the same time that his mother, Susan, was having increasing problems with her memory as Alzheimer’s progressively took a worsening toll. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History

OpEd: Blame Goldstein and Hadjadj, not the Jews or Chabad

So there is another shanda, disgrace, emanating from former Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein’s complicated scheme to steal money from taxpayers and generous employers.  Caught up in it is another Chabad Rabbi, Yehuda Hadjadj of Chabad of UC San Diego, who pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Jan. 26, to conspiring with Goldstein to illegally divert money fraudulently obtained from Qualcomm. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Opinion, San Diego County, Shanda File

Entrepreneur Tells of Taking 2 Companies Public and the Deal He Made for the San Diego Jewish Academy

This memoir tells of a man bouncing on the exceedingly rough seas of entrepreneurship and finding emotional safe harbor again and again in the warmth of his family.  It is not your standard how-I-made-a-bundle-and-you-can-too motivational book; it is a very intimate autobiographical portrait of Del Mar resident Richard Jaffe, which he wrote with the assistance of his daughter Charly.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Bible Inspired Name of Cemetery in Nestor Neighborhood

In Nestor, a neighborhood of San Diego northwest of San Ysidro, a small, two-acre, formerly abandoned burial grounds, recently undergoing restoration, is named the Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Located at 2127 Iris Street, it is so small, it sometimes is called Mount Oliveito Cemetery. It is surrounded by single-family residences. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Author Tells of Survivor Mother and the Extraordinary Medical Campaign that Saved Her

This is an academic work, yet a very personal one for Bernice Lerner of Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility. The Jewish girl referred to in the subtitle was author Lerner’s mother, Rachel Genuth.  Her Romanian hometown of Seghet was annexed by Hungary, then an ally of Nazi Germany. Teenaged Genuth and the town’s other Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

Children’s Literature: Turning Conflict into Cooperation

Their story starts off as a tale of conflict between two towns, one of which grows apples, and the other which raises honey bees.  When the residents of Dvash stripped an apple tree in the town of Tapuchim, the first reaction of the adult residents of Tapuchin was to retaliate against Dvash.  But a little girl suggested that before they do anything, they should seek the advice of their rabbi. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food

Israeli Agriculture and the Little Landers Movement

At our last stop, Jewish merchants were our focus. Another reason one can anticipate finding a “Jewish story everywhere” is the nation of Israel. Every other country in the world either enjoys or refuses relations with Israel, but whichever the case, it leads to a Jewish-interest story. On a more personal level, there are relationships between the Jews who live in the Land of Israel and people living in other areas of the world. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food

Jewish Brothers Became Shopping-Mall Magnates

For centuries, Jewish merchants have made an impact on every country and society in which they lived. We can find some good examples of this at our very first stop on our Interstate 5 tour, the sprawling Las Americas Premium Outlets center which sits close to the Mexican border on the U.S. side. It attracts thousands of shoppers from both countries. The 56.1-acre complex was built in 2007, and at a recent count had 125 stores, most being representative of well-known brand names. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA