JKHA middle school tefillah classes introduced a new series this year called Tefillah Talks. Patterned after the popular online TED Talks, Tefilla Talks go beyond the regular study of the siddur’s text to explore questions that are essential to students’ understanding of the tefillah experience. Each session, a short video of community rabbis spurs on conversation with students about the tefillah topics they are thinking about. The most recent talk by Rabbi Chaim Marcus of Congregation Israel in Springfield, discussed the topic of talking during davening and covered why we talk, why we shouldn’t talk, how we can stop and what commitment we can make to daven better. The talk inspired further discussions which JKHA hope will carry over into its students’ daily minyanim.