Rabbi Wayne Dosick was the beloved and longest serving rabbi in San Diego, serving San Diego from 1975 until his sudden passing in 2025.

Rabbi Dosick, a proud Chicago South-Sider, and White Sox, Cubs, and Padres fan, was ordained by Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1973, and came to San Diego in 1975 to serve as the spiritual leader at Congregation Beth El in Clairemont, soon to move to La Jolla. At That time, the La Jolla Covenant didn’t allow in any “dogs or Jews”, and always a courageous innovator ,Rabbi Wayne let them know they were coming, by marching with the entire congregation the 8 miles, carrying the Torah scrolls, waving flags, and singing. Under his leadership the beautiful synagogue was designed and built, and remains a thriving Conservative congregation.

After six years, Rabbi Dosick moved on to new ventures, in 1981, creating Kulanu Video Productions, and the “Video Synagogue”, a 45-minute Friday night service on videotape, that was put into hospitals and nursing homes, so that people who couldn’t get to Shabbat services, could still have a service they could attend. His videos have been used for years by the home-bound and those in nursing homes. His vision of the spiritual possibilities of technology was so deeply prescient, and his creative innovating always seemed to be 20 years ahead of its time.

Rabbi Dosick’s communal involvements were many. He served on the national board of directors of Mazon in its early years. He was a founder of the San Diego Jewish Academy and served on its board of directors from 1979-1981. He chaired the Western States Regions of the Rabbinical Assembly annual convention in 1981.
Rabbi Dosick was widely popular and known as an outstanding and charismatic teacher at the San Diego High School of Jewish Studies, where he taught and served as a member of the curriculum committee from 1977-1982.

In 1982, a small group of families in North County sought Rabbi’s leadership to begin a new Conservative congregation in Solana Beach. Housed in a renovated tire store, his brilliant and creative programming and schools quickly grew Beth Am into a vibrant 450-family congregation.

While at Beth Am, the private Catholic University of San Diego, invited him to teach a course in Jewish Belief and Practice in the Department of Religious Studies. Rabbi Dosick was such a magnificent teacher, that he ended up teaching at least 2 classes every semester at USD for the next 17 years, and year after year, the students voted him the best, most beloved professor in the college. During his tenure at USD, Rabbi Dosick also earned a PhD at Columbia Pacific University.

The founding dean of AJR in Los Angeles, Rabbi Dosick was very proud of his multi-denominational affiliations – he was a member of the RA, CCAR, and Aleph rabbinic groups. In recognition of his years of service, Hebrew Union College awarded him an Honorary Doctorate degree in 1998, and The Jewish Theological Seminary awarded him a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, in 2005.

In 1991, Rabbi Dosick left Congregation Beth Am, to search more deeply for the spiritual Judaism that would put God at the center and enable people to find a more personal and intimate relationship with the Divine. In 1992, he and his wife, Ellen, began the Elijah Minyan, a Spiritual Renewal congregation, that became a “living laboratory” for exploring re-emerging Jewish Spirituality.

Over the next 20 years, Rabbi Dosick would write over 400 bi-weekly columns for the San Diego Jewish Times, host a 15-year weekly radio show, SpiritTalkLive for HealthyLife.net, and write 10 groundbreaking books, which many colleagues have found extraordinarily helpful over the years and have reached a wide lay audience. After 25 years, his book, Living Judaism is still considered the best comprehensive introduction to Judaism, and is used in universities and synagogues around the world. His books garnered him appearances on the Larry King Show and Good Morning America. From Dancing With God and Soul Judaism to When Life Hurts, from Golden Rules: the 10 Ethical Values Parents Need to Teach Their Children to Empowering Your Indigo Child and the Business Bible, Rabbi’s lyrical writing touched and enriched thousands of people. More recently, 20-Minute Kabbalah is a revisioned chant-meditation through the mysteries of the Tree of Life;

The Real Name of God is a highly researched probe into deep theology; and Radical Loving is a beautiful blueprint for healing and bringing peace to our broken world.

Rabbi Dosick was a passionate lover of Israel, brought a number of groups there on spiritual pilgrimage, and traveled to Israel as often as he could. His heart was in Jerusalem and he always felt that it was where he was most at home, that Jerusalem was where he truly belonged.

Rabbi Wayne’s greatest passion was for his Elijah Minyan, which he led and served for 33 years. He had planned to retire from this great work in June 2025, but really never wanted to leave the beloved members of this congregation. Over these decades he lovingly taught scores of classes, wrote over 100 chants and prayers, created dozens of programs and workshops, and made hundreds of prayer books unique to each holiday and festival, gathering and celebration.

Rabbi Dosick lived in North County San Diego and left behind his wife, Ellen, and an adoring extended family. A holy fountain of joy and love, a deep and brilliant thinker, curious and interested in everyone and everything, incredibly generous, and a gifted joke and story-teller. His heart was available and accessible to all. His irrepressible smile, joy, and energy were palpable to everyone, in every walk of life. Rabbi Wayne Dosick was so greatly beloved, because he loved so many, so well.