Nashuva - what a great experience - think the band from the blues brothers, add a powerful…read morespiritual leader and what even my at-times-orthodox brother admits is a complete Jewish service, snuck into the great tunes.. combine together to make up what I initially though of as a very LA form of Judaism, and you have a once a month, not-to-be-missed event, no dues or fees...yowzah!
It's all that and more, but does take a few visits to integrate it all, and not be totally thrown off by how different it is. Enjoy and Exalt. Amazing high holiday services, too; I especially recommend Tashlich at the beach and 2nd day Rosh Hashannah at Temescal.
Having moved to Northern California two years ago, my family and I have returned to Nashuva for the high holidays and we try to time our occasional LA mini-vacations to align with Nashuva services. In examining how and why we feel so attached to Nashuva, it's in part because we always come away refreshed, energized and so happy to have attended and participated. How does that happen? It's because we are welcomed, recognized, included, engaged and raised up by Rabbi Naomi, the band, the volunteers and all the members of the community. That's an amazing number of positive elements to blend into a single, quick experience, and it certainly keeps us returning to Nashuva.
While past performance is not a perfect predictor of future results, Nashuva has delivered a very high "return on investment" (ROI) of my time over the last 5 years.