Donald H. Harrison

[caption id="attachment_119310" align="alignright" width="100"] Donald H. Harrison[/caption]

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.

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Montgomery Steppe Supporters Alienated Potential Allies

If the Trump-led Republican party should somehow implode, don’t worry, there still would be a contentious two-party system in the United States.  Democrats, as is their habit, would immediately fall upon each other and quickly divide into two categories: moderates and “progressives.” Yes, I put the word “progressive” in quotation marks, because there is nothing progressive about threatening or bullying office holders who might disagree with you.  It’s downright regressive. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Marathon Council Meeting Elects Campbell as President

One Jewish San Diego City Councilmember departed, a second Jewish Councilmember arrived, and a third, in the middle of her term, was elected as the Council’s new president during a marathon meeting on Thursday, Dec. 10th, after the 73rd City Council of the City of San Diego was sworn in along with the city’s new Democratic mayor, Todd Gloria, and the  reelected City Attorney, Mara Elliott. The new Council President in Jennifer Campbell, who defeated Monica Montgomery Steppe by a 5-4 vote notwithstanding an outpouring of support for Montgomery Steppe during the public comment portion of the meeting. The departing Jewish Councilmember was Barbara Bry, who was succeeded as the representative of the First District by Joe LaCava, who was administered the oath of office by his wife Lorraine. The arriving City Councilmember was Sean Elo-Rivera, who was sworn in as the representative of the Ninth District by his wife Angela Rivera. He succeeded City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez, who is also the immediate past President of the City Council. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Pharmacist Explains How Drugs Can Mitigate Mental Illness

Dishman covers ADHD, depression, personality disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, anxiety, PTSD and insomnia. He goes into detail in each of these, including the variety of medications available for anyone suffering with one of these mental illnesses, or as he calls them, “Diversity of Personality.” [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jen Campbell wins a short-term rental victory

Ahead of the December 10th meeting that will determine whether San Diego City Councilmember Jennifer Campbell or Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe will become the next City Council President, Campbell scored a victory at the City Planning Commission, winning unanimous approval for her compromise plan to cut by 50 percent the number of short-term rental units in the city and to charge a license fee for those that remain. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Authors Tell Stories of 15 Israelis’ Resilience

In “Isresilience,” we meet 15 Israelis who overcame difficult challenges in their lives and went on to praiseworthy accomplishments.  The sketches are of Israeli sabras and olim, men and women, young and old.  Through the entire narrative, authors Dickson, who is executive director of StandWithUs in Israel, and Baum, a PhD known for her studies of resilience, examine how these Israelis were able to overcome the obstacles that life put in their way.   They suggest that there are three important ingredients to resilience: empathy, flexibility, and meaning making, which might be better understood as a sense of purpose. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

Editor’s Surgery to Prompt SDJW Hiatus Dec. 15-Jan. 4

This publication will go on a hiatus that will begin Tuesday, December 15, 2020 and will continue through Monday, January 4, 2021.  Although San Diego Jewish World will remain on line, with its extensive archives,  no new stories will be filed during this period.  Advertisers will not be charged during the hiatus, even though their ads will continue to run. This three-week pause was necessitated by the fact that I will be having surgery on December 15th to remove a small meningioma from the surface of my brain – an operation that is expected to require a few days recovery period in the hospital followed by recuperation at home. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Thanksgiving Blessings and Tzedakah

I’m always fascinated at Thanksgiving time to see how rabbis express what is a central tenet of Judaism: giving thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings bestowed upon us.
For example, the Forward offered a prayer from the book, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle and Celebration  by Rabbi Naomi Levy of the Neshuva congregation in Los Angeles. The poem focuses on every day things—children’s laughter, our ability to breathe, having enough food to eat, living in adequate shelters, being clothed, being healthy, the special people in our lives, and residing in a country where people are free to practice their religion without fear. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Janet Yellen to be 3rd consecutive Jewish Treasury Secretary

Among Jews nominated for important posts in the Biden Administration is Secretary of the Treasury-designate Janet Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve.  Although she and her husband, Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof, have not to date talked much publicly about their religious beliefs, it is known that as residents of Berkeley, California, decades ago, they attended services at that city’s Congregation Beth El, and that their son Robert Akerlof, who is now himself a professor of economics at the University of Warwick, was enrolled by them in the Beth El preschool. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Imagining the next White House seder!

One can imagine a crowded seder at the White Housed during Passover week next year, with President-elect Joe Biden and his First Lady Jill Biden observing and perhaps taking a turn reading the Haggadah as guests of honor.  Biden’s son by his first marriage, Hunter, is married to South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen, while Ashley, daughter of the President-elect and the First Lady-designate, is married to plastic surgeon, Dr. Howard Krein. There might be plenty of other Jews there, starting with the Second Gentleman (as perhaps he will be called) Doug Emhoff, the attorney who is husband to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. [Donald H. Harrison]

Imagining the next White House seder! Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA

Dershowitz on Jonathan Pollard, U.S.-Israel Relations, U.S. Election

Famed trial attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday in an interview with San Diego Jewish World that he hoped Secretary of State-designate Anthony Blinken would ignore any advice about Iran from former Secretary of State John Kerry “who signed the original agreement and the original agreement was a disaster for Israel.” Kerry, meanwhile, was designated by President-elect Joe Biden to lead U.S. efforts to combat climate change. [Donald H. Harrison]

Dershowitz on Jonathan Pollard, U.S.-Israel Relations, U.S. Election Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Jewish Clergy Lobby Congress to Combat Hunger

Some families are preparing for Thanksgiving meals from which relatives and close friends will be absent because of the coronavirus pandemic.  At the same time, other families aren’t even even sure they will have enough to eat on Thanksgiving or any other day as a result of the growing hunger and food insecurity around the country, according to officials of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

The Jews of Congress

Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs of San Diego has been appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the freshman representative on the House Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee — a plum assignment that may mark the wealthy Californian as a future leader in the Democratic Caucus.  Jacobs, who succeeds retiring Congresswoman Susan Davis as the representative of California’s 53rd Congressional District is the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder and billionaire Irwin Jacobs, Ph.D, and herself a millionaire. [Donald H. Harrison]

The Jews of Congress Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Anti-Semitism Then and Now

News relating to the Holocaust of 1938 to 1945 and to anti-Semitic, anti-Israel dangers of today are the focus of today’s news briefing.

Above, is a recent video interview conducted by Sandy Scheller of the South Bay Historical Society with Holocaust Survivor Rose Schindler of San Diego at the Chula Vista Public Library, which currently is hosting an exhibit on Holocaust survivors who moved to the South Bay region of San Diego County.  The video incorporates clips from previous video interviews with Schindler’s late husband, Max.  The stories of both Schindlers were told in their joint memoir, Two Who Survived. [Donald H. Harrison]

Anti-Semitism Then and Now Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

S.D. Jewish Men’s Choir To Debut Album Dec. 6

Talent and technology will be put on display at 5 p.m., PST,  Sunday, Dec. 6, when the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir posts on line its ten-track legacy album featuring songs in Ladino, Hebrew and Yiddish.  The free concert, accompanied by a Power Point presentation, will be carried on the choir’s Facebook page, which may be accessed via this website. [Donald H. Harrison]

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