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| Jared Stein / Guitar, Mandolin,
Violin and Vocals |
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ackground |
| Jared
Stein was born and raised in Maryland. He comes from
a musical family and has been playing violin and guitar since
childhood. He’s played in many bands including his family’s
band: The Rolling Steins. Jared has been studying classical
violin at UCSB. |
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| What
does Nashuva mean to you? |
| Nashuva is a spiritual
awakening. There are many Jewish communities that I have attended
services at, played music at and been a part of. Until I went
to Nashuva I didn’t really connect with any of them. At
Nashuva it’s more about the Jewish spirit and finding
Jewishness within you rather than finding it in a prayer book.
It’s a lot of fun and we play a lot of cool music. I think
it’s a huge step forward for Judaism in America. |
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| What
is it like to be part of the Nashuva band? |
| It’s great. They
are really hot musicians. We all click and there’s a lot
of energy in the band. The band members come with awesome backgrounds
in playing different musical styles--not only Jewish music.
That’s why we can mix styles so well in the Nashuva service.
It’s not a show. It’s more about the spirit and
the feel of the music rather than putting on a show for people. |
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| What
is it like to be part of the Nashuva service? |
| It’s a great
feeling because everybody’s focused on what we’re
doing and people don’t have other things on their mind
at Nashuva. It makes it beautiful because we’re all on
the same level. It’s a divine pleasure to be working with
Naomi. She’s created something that I think could give
a whole new feel to American Judaism. I’m really glad
to be working with her from the beginning. I get probably one
of the best views that anyone gets from Naomi’s sermons.
I look around when she’s speaking. There’s always
someone crying. Maybe they are tears of joy. Maybe they found
themselves in a whole new way. Within each sermon there’s
something if not many things to connect with. You can relate
to something in your life and get a whole new perspective on
it. It’s enriching and there is a lot of wisdom to be
gained. You learn something each time you listen. |
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| What’s
it like to play with your brother? |
| We love playing together.
Justin is an awesome musician. He’s got a great feel on
the bass. His voice is awesome as everybody has heard. We really
click. The whole band plays off the feel he lays down for the
music on his bass and it makes for a really good time. |
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| What
is the Connection between your Music and your prayer? |
| For me music is a prayer.
When I’m playing music it brings me back to myself. And
I am myself for that time. Music brings me closer to God. It
inspires certain feelings in you and you can’t get those
feelings from any other place. Music is a language that words
can’t describe. It’s a felt language. |
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| What
is your experience of prayer at Nashuva? |
| Really it’s that
uplifting feeling I get when everybody meditates together at
the service. And we let ourselves go and be in the moment for
Shabbat and we’re all with each other. It’s an energizing
and renewing feeling. I think everybody gets to feel that at
the service. |
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| How
would you describe Nashuva? |
| It’s one of a
kind. |
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| How
is Nashuva an expression of your Judaism? |
| It brings out my Judaism
more than any other Jewish service I’ve been to, because
when you go to Nashuva and you read these translations by Naomi
that are so accessible and easy to relate to, they speak of
Jewish prayer and what God has done for us. It’s thanking
God in a language that we can relate to. And it brings you closer
to God because it’s much easier to believe that God is
here. |
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| What
is the Nashuva musical experience to you? |
| All the members are
on the same level. We are all there to back Naomi up and it
kind of guides our music. It gives it a place to go. We reach
a new level musically each time. Each service keeps getting
better and better. |
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| How
would you describe the Nashuva community? |
| It’s a real community.
It’s what I can call a true community because I feel a
sense of people working together for something that’s
hard to feel in a lot of places. |
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