Congregation Beth El

Specialties

Our Mission

Congregation Beth El is a Conservative synagogue whose mission is to create a home for every soul by offering a variety of Jewish experiences to nourish the mind, heart, and spirit, while being a caring Jewish community.

Our Vision

We welcome all Jews and fulfill their spiritual, emotional, intellectual, cultural, life-​cycle, and social needs, while ensuring Jewish meaning for future generations and emphasizing Tikkun Olam.

Our Values

We strive to be a synagogue that is welcoming and inclusive, whose operations are guided by responsibility, transparency, and trustworthiness, and whose interactions are characterized by respect, gratitude, joy, humility, and optimism.

History

Established in 1957.

Congregation Beth El started in the Clairemont area in 1957. At that time, most of the Jewish population had settled in the eastern part of the city. With the influx of engineers, coming to work for Convair, many of them settled in the Clairemont area.

Early in 1976, led by our spiritual leader at that time, Rabbi Wayne Dosick, many of our Beth El members marched with the Torahs from Clairemont to our new location in La Jolla.

Our congregation has had the honor of having Rabbis such as Jack Riemer, author of many books and an excellent lecturer; Rabbi Arnold Kopikis, who came to us from Mexico, with a Spanish speaking congregation, and held services in Spanish for those members. Rabbi Moshe Levin, Emeritus, was with us for 15 years. In 2002, Rabbi Philip Graubart joined us our new Senior Rabbi. In 2004, Rabbi Avi Libman joined us our Associate Rabbi.

In 2017 we look forward to celebrating our 60^th anniversary.

Meet the Manager

Rabbi Graubart P.

Manager

Rabbi Philip Graubart is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth El, in La Jolla, California. In 2012, Congregation Beth El honored him on his ten years at the synagogue. Before that, he served congregations in New York City, and Northampton Massachusetts.

Rabbi Graubart received his rabbinic degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He also studied at Northwestern University and the University of Judaism. He has a master’s degree in International Relations from Hebrew University.

Rabbi Graubart is an accomplished author. He’s had regular columns in The Jerusalem Report, the Jerusalem Post, the San Diego Jewish Journal, and the Jewish Journal of Western Massachusetts. He currently blogs at time​sofis​rael​.com and cbe​.org. He has published five books, My Dinner with Michael Jackson, Planet of the Jews, My Mother’s Song, A Suicide Note, and his latest Rabbis and Gangsters.

He’s married to Rabbi Susan Freeman and they have two sons, Benjamin and Ilan.