Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Can a derivative story teach the Holocaust?

The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window by Jeff Gottesfeld; illustrated by Peter McCarty; ©2016 Alfred A. Knopf, Junior Library Guild Selection; 34 pages; $17.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This beautifully written, magnificently illustrated, sentimental remembrance of Anne Frank is being marketed as a children’s book, but I’m not […]

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

‘Ghosts’ illustrates reverence for our war dead

Ghosts: Images of War by Carrie Zeidman; © 2015 Swiss Creek Publications; ISBN 978-0970227652; 71 pages; $40. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This is an unusual book of photo essays touring venues of the American Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Holocaust.  Photojournalist Carrie Zeidman visits these places

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

Some tips for couples who don’t want to quarrel

Stop The Fight: An Illustrated Guide for Couples by Michelle Brody, PhD; © 2015; The Experiment, LLC;  ISBN 978-1-61519-280-9;  295 pages plus index and notes; $15.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Psychologist Michelle Brody offers a dozen scenarios illustrating typical fights between married couples, along with suggestions for how the couples might understand what those

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Book review: ‘The Myth of the Cultural Jew’

The Myth of the Cultural Jew: Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition by Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Oxford University Press, New York;  ISBN 978-0-19-537370-7 ©2015, $34.95, p. 297, plus index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — If you’ve ever heard a new employee at work say something like, “We didn’t do it that way when I

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Holocaust quandary: At what cost survival?

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriet Savit, Random House Children’s Books, ©2016; fiction; ISBN 978-0-553-51334-9; 230 pages; $17.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Here is a fictional story that is both fascinating and improbable.  A 7-year-old Jewish girl in Poland is left alone after the Nazis take away her father, a professor

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

From the Jewish Library: ‘Timechart History…’

The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization, edited and designed by Meredith MacArdle, World Press Ltd., 2010, Consultant: Judy Gold, Director, London Jewish Cultural Center By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — This is a  large coffee table sized book that opens with a spectacular full color, sixteen page, unfolding panel which is eleven feet long.  It

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History

Book explains the laws of Kashrut

The Practical Guide to the Laws of Kashrut by Rabbi Pinchas Cohen, Maggid Books, Jerusalem;  ISBN 978-1-59264-434-6 ©2015, $17.95, p. 75, plus glossary and figures By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.   WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew word kosher means “proper” or “fit,” and in the case of food, the term kosher refers to food that God says is

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Jewish Library: ‘Every Man in This Village is a Liar’

Every Man in This Village is a Liar, by Megan K. Stack, Doubleday Publishers, 2010 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Megan K. Stack, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times writes from distant lands wracked by war and unrest.  She takes the reader to Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, various Palestinian areas, Israel and

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Biographers can be inspired by Fumiko Ishioka

Karen Levine, Hana’s Suitcase: The Quest to Solve a Holocaust Mystery; © 20r Te02, 2012; Random House Children’s Books; ISBN 978-1-101-93349-7; 135 pages, $9.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Perhaps because I’m in the process of researching a local biography, I’m all the more impressed by the resourcefulness and stick-to-it-iveness of Fumiko Ishioka,

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

Book tells how Israel solved its water crisis

Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World by Seth M. Siegel, St. Martin’s Press, New York;  ISBN 978-1-250-07395-2 ©2015, $27.99, p. 252, plus eight color photos, appendices and; an index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” WINCHESTER,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Take from Bible what’s best, leave the rest

I Don’t Know What to Believe: Making Spiritual Peace With Your Religion by Rabbi Ben Kamin; Central Recovery Press, © 2016; ISBN 878-1-942094-04-3; 224 pages; $16.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Rabbi Kamin’s columns appear regularly on San Diego Jewish World. In fairness to those reading this review, it should be noted that we

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

Did Holocaust survivor love or just use her protector?

Love in a World of Sorrow by Fanya Gottesfeld Heller, Gefen Publishing House © 2015, ISBN 9780965-229-839-3l 252 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –There are many authors like Fanya Gottesfeld Heller who tell their survival stories from the Holocaust at school assemblies and other forums.  In San Diego County, the names of Gussie

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