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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One-Day U.S. Screening of Documentary on the Warsaw Zookeepers Who Hid Jews

An unusual, although not unprecedented, rollout for the documentary Of Animals and Men will occur on Tuesday, June 22, in theaters around the nation when the film telling “the true story behind The Zookeeper’s Wife” will be given a one-day only showing. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

App Unveiled to Help Law Enforcement Be More Culturally Sensitive

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced on Thursday the development of a new phone app to help members of law enforcement be more culturally sensitive when they have interactions with any of 12 ethnic and religious groups. The dozen groups include 1) African American Youth; Asian; Chaldean; East African/ Somali; East African/ Somali Youth; Karen/ Karenni (from Burma); Latinx Youth; Mexican and Mexican American; Muslim; Native Americans, Samoans, and Vietnamese. It was not deemed necessary to include Jews among the groups, but I think this was a mistake. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

A Survivor’s Trek Through Europe and the U.S.

In this memoir, nonagenarian Michael G. Kesler tells how as a teenager, he escaped both forced service in the Soviet Army and the Nazi invasion of his Polish home town by hopping trains with his older sister Luba eastward to the Soviet Asian republics where they both found productive work. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Jewish Family’s Anguish after Converting as Catholics during Nazi Era

Erika Hecht’s mother had herself and Erika converted from Judaism to Catholicism to protect them from discovery by the Nazis or their Hungarian allies, the Arrow Cross. Erika was enrolled in Catholic school, where she learned her catechism, but she remained aware of her Jewish parentage — especially since she remained close to her father and paternal grandmother. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Superman: The Mighty Analog

The answer to the question, “Is Superman circumcised?” in literature probably would depend on what the custom might have been on Krypton concerning the ceremony we Jews know as brit milah.  Such an operation would have been impossible on Earth.  If a bullet couldn’t penetrate Superman’s skin; how futile would be the use of a mohel’s lknife? [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Goodbye Columbus, Schweitzer, and Lindbergh

For many years, performing any of Richard Wagner’s orchestral works was verboten in Israel.  Wagner was a virulent antisemite and Hitler’s favorite composer.  In a country that had taken in so many victims of the Holocaust, performing any of Wagner’s works would have been like pouring  burning oil onto an open flesh wound. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Asylum Seekers See Very Little of San Diego on Journeys to Sponsors

U.S.-authorized asylum seekers assisted by Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) may remember our city primarily as a place where they slept on hotel beds with clean linens, had three meals a day delivered to them, and got their first prolonged taste of American television. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Jewish Family Service Has Unit to Help Jews in Need

The chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service of San Diego estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the Jews who live in San Diego County are at or below the poverty line.  To help them, and any other Jew in need, JFS has created  a culturally-competent Center for Jewish Care, reports Michael Hopkins, the JFS CEO.  Currently, the center has three fulltime staff members, but according to Carole Yellen, JFS senior director of strategic partnerships, that number may soon be doubled. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Jacob Kamaras joins San Diego Jewish World as Managing Editor

Jacob Kamaras, a public relations professional who previously served as the first editor in chief of the national Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), has accepted a position as managing editor of San Diego Jewish World, it was announced by Donald H. Harrison, publisher and editor in chief of the daily online news publication. [SDJW staff report]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County, USA

Making San Diego a Yiddish Destination

During the pandemic, YAAANA, the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America, a tiny non-profit organization I founded four years ago, saw significant growth, and is about to move into a new physical space in La Jolla. In June 2021, we plan to open a mini-Yiddishland California in the Village of La Jolla. Among the activities planned for that space are Yiddish music concerts, theater performances, activities for children, Yiddish classes, and festive Yiddish-style dinners. And, just like our previous pop-up and Zoom events, all YAAANA activities will be accessible to all regardless of Yiddish-speaking abilities. Additionally, childcare will be available to visiting parents. [Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Children’s Literature: The Candy Man Mystery

Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, author of The Candy Man Mystery, is primarily known as a Jewish educator having served as a dean at the Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion and as a vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation.  Perhaps, however, he was remembering his 15 years at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, Connecticut, when he wrote The Candy Man Mystery, a book likely to intrigue elementary school-aged children about synagogue Judaism. [Donald H. Harrison]

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