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.

[showhide type=”pressrelease” more_text=”Show More” less_text=”Show Less”]

[/showhide]

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]

Authors Tell Stories of 15 Israelis’ Resilience Read More »

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]

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

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]

Thanksgiving Blessings and Tzedakah Read More »

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]

Janet Yellen to be 3rd consecutive Jewish Treasury Secretary Read More »

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]

Jewish Clergy Lobby Congress to Combat Hunger Read More »

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]

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

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

San Diego Dems Endorse Montgomery Steppe for City Council President

By a 4-1 margin, members of the San Diego Democratic Central Committee endorsed City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to serve as the next president of the San Diego City Council, rejecting the candidacy of  her fellow Democrat, Dr. Jennifer Campbell.  Montgomery Steppe represents the 4th Council District, and Campbell represents the 2nd District.

The vote Tuesday night came after Montgomery Steppe was endorsed by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, and outgoing Council President Georgette Gomez, The Voice of San Diego reported. [Donald H. Harrison]

San Diego Dems Endorse Montgomery Steppe for City Council President Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Victory for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant

With sewage increasingly able to be recycled into potable water that can be integrated with the city’s water supply, less treated water will need to undergo secondary treatment before it is returned via the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant (PLWTP) to the Pacific Ocean, according to U.S. Reps. Scott Peters and Susan Davis, both San Diego Democrats. [Donald H. Harrison]

Victory for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

‘Mostly Mishegas’ Satirizes Trump’s Jewish Knowledge

The idea that Donald J. (“John,” not “Jewish”) Trump would even consider converting to Judaism is, on its face, outrageous. Then again, Joel H. (“Hugh,” not “Hebrew”) Cohen, has plenty of outrageous thoughts about the 45th president of the United States and has, in the past, humorously and unapologetically expressed them in these pages of the San Diego Jewish World in his column, “Just Kidding.” [Bruce F. Lowitt]

‘Mostly Mishegas’ Satirizes Trump’s Jewish Knowledge Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Bruce F. Lowitt, Donald H. Harrison, Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire

‘Paper Bullets’ tells of lesbian resisters in Nazi-occupied Jersey

Avant-garde artists Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe advertised the fact that they were stepsisters, and hid the fact that they were lovers; their practice in deception  useful in hiding their World War II roles as anti-occupation propagandists in Nazi-occupied Jersey. [Donald H. Harrison]

‘Paper Bullets’ tells of lesbian resisters in Nazi-occupied Jersey Read More »

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