By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO–The Caliph Abd al Rahman III, was the greatest of the Umayyad dynasty to rule the land known to Islam as Al Andalus, to Jews as Sepharad and to Christians as Espana/Spain. He was also having too good a time in his pleasure palace in Cordoba to bother about the day […]
From the Jewish Library: ‘The Jews of Khazaria’ Read More »
Jewish History
-Eighth in a series- Exit 3: Taylor Street, San Diego — Wadie P. Deddeh State Office Building SAN DIEGO — No, Wadie P. Deddeh isn’t Jewish. He’s an Iraqi Christian, whose success in San Diego County rising from a professor at Southwestern Community College to a state Assemblyman and eventually to a state Senator was
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The theme of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School (SSDHDS)’s 52nd fundraising gala on Sunday, June 7, was “Growing Greatness” and what better venue to stage it than at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park, a sports museum conceived and implemented by the late Bob Breitbard, who
‘Growing Greatness’ Gala focused on students, food Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Marcia Tatz Wollner, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share
-Seventh in a series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard ~USD campus By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Rabbi Wayne Dosick received a telephone call in 1988 from Richard Stern, an activist in the Jewish Chattaqua Society, which was formed in the previous century to spread among diverse audiences knowledge about the Jewish religion. Stern wanted to know
I-8 Jewish Travel: The rabbi and the monsignor Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA
Memoirs of a Jewish Gypsy by Jenny Graubart, with Lea Tenenbaum © 2014, ISBN 978-1-939758-88-0, 73 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – As a family keepsake encapsulating Jenny Graubart’s childhood memories along with photos of herself, parents and sister, this slim volume will have enduring value. However, the book does not extend itself
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — In a turbulent, ever changing world, for an organization to survive seventy years and still be strong and vibrant is an impressive achievement. This was emphasised Sunday, May 24, when B’nai B’rith Victoria celebrated its 70th birthday with a “gala Birthday Party” in front of almost 250 attendees. The
Australian B’nai B’rith unit turns 70 Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — As far as sports complexes go, the Paris Velodrome built in 1909 within blocks of the Eiffel Tower was a marvel. Housing the popular indoor 6-day bicycle races, the huge stadium contained a giant steeply banked oval track at its base with two tiers of seating for 15,000
The bicycle stadium that shame tore down Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryOut of the Shoebox, an Autobiographical Mystery Historical Novel by Yaron Reshef, translated from the Hebrew by Nina R. Davis and Shira E. Davis, Amazon, 2014 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel– Yaron Reshef begins his book, which has been expertly translated by Nina and Shira Davis, with a declaration regarding the sequence of chance
Finding one’s roots can be bitter and sweet Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History
-Sixth in a series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard, Immaculata Church By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — That such a man should be knighted by the Pope was not surprising. The retired colonel had donated substantial sums of money not only to the Catholic-run University of San Diego, but also to other universities founded under religious auspices, including
I-8 Jewish Travel: A ceremony at the Immaculata Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food
-Fifth in a Series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard: University of San Diego By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In the news and in movie theaters that show such films as The Lady in Gold, perplexing questions continue to arise about who is the rightful owner of art works seized by the Nazis before and during
I-8 Jewish travel — University of San Diego Law School Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA“Whosoever saves a single life saves an entire universe —Mishna, Sanhedrin 4:5 By Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — When Soviet troops entered the Auschwitz extermination camp on January 27, 1945, they found 7,000 survivors from the more than one million who had passed under its gates. Auschwitz has become a symbol for the Holocaust
An Auschwitz love story Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — The lights of the B’nai B’rith Menorah were snuffed out across Europe in the late 1930’s, when the forces gathering to inflict the tragedy of the Holocaust disbanded the organisation. The majority of European B’nai B’rith members perished in the Holocaust, but a handful managed to find safe havens in
B’nai B’rith marks 70th year in Australia Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryMemory is Our Home by Suzanna Eibuszyc; Ibidem Press (c) 2015; ISBN 978-3-8382-0712-4; 250 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–The voices of first generation and second generation Holocaust survivors are interwoven in this family remembrance covering pre-war life in Poland, escape from the Nazis to the Soviet Union and its eastern Republics; a return
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
Editor’s Note: In my quest to find Jewish stories wherever I go, I decided there is no place like home to illustrate the concept that “there is a Jewish story everywhere.” Interstate 8 roughly follows the traditional route that settlers took in their covered wagons in the mid-19th century to get to San Diego from
I-8 Jewish travel: Valley View Casino Center Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food