CHULA VISTA, Calif.—Enrique Morones is the host of "On the Record," an interview program on KURS radio, 1040 on the AM dial. He kindly had me as a guest on his 6 p.m. show this evening to discuss my book, Louis Rose: San Diego's First Jewish Settle and Entrepreneur, and, while I was at it, to tell a little about Chanukah.  

Briefly I told about the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenized Syrians, the cleaning of the Temple and the miracle of the lights.  I explained that in the United States, Chanukah has become the gift-giving holiday—in part so that our Jewish children won't feel overwhelmed, or left out, with all the excitement about the Christmas season.  Sometimes, I noted, the two holidays overlapped.

A caller wanted to know why the holidays overlapped only sometimes, and I explained that whereas Christmas is celebrated by the solar calendar, Jewish holidays are celebrated according to a lunar calendar.  As the two don't match up, Chanukah sometimes can fall in late November, other times in December.

I appreciated the caller's question because it made me realize that some things that we Jews take for granted in our conversations—such as the observation that "Chanukah comes early this year"  —can be a complete mystery to those who have not grown up in our culture. The same might be said, of course, about people who have grown up in other cultures. 

Morones is well known in San Diego, having been an executive with the San Diego Padres, and a president of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  He now serves as the president of a humanitarian group known as Border Angels, which leaves food and clothing along the rugged mountain and desert trails where undocumented immigrants risk their lives in the hope of finding employment in the United States.  

Although we did not discuss this on the show, Morones on other occasions has reported  that in the last decade some 3,000 immigrants—men, women and children—have perished after crossing the border illegally and then being exposed to the extreme heat or cold of California's mountains or deserts. Immigrants follow this dangerous route because their entry into the United States is less likely to be detected than along the urbanized portions of the border, where the Border Patrol maintains heavy security.

I met Morones while researching a story for the upcoming January issue of  San Diego Metropolitan, a monthly magazine, about the Jewish-Latino Dialogue that has been occurring over the past two years.  

On a quarterly basis, leaders within the two communities get together to exchange concerns, to discuss politics, and to learn about each other's cultures. The group meets under the auspices of the San Diego regional office of the American Jewish Committee. 

Morones' show, in a sense, is an example of different cultures coming together.  Tune in KURS until 5 p.m., and you will hear Gospel Music.  Then there is a two-hour break in which Morones and, on some occasions, San Diego City Councilmember Ralph Inzunza Jr., will discuss current affairs with guests. Then it's back to Gospel Music.

Driving home from the interview, I had a nagging thought—call it "journalist's guilt."  I wished I had been interviewing Morones rather than vice versa.  He really is an interesting guy.

 —Donald H. Harrison