Barry Simanowitz sent me this excellent article, by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger analyzing talking during davening from Halachic, Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources. I happened to daven at Rabbi Weinberger's shul in Woodmere two weeks ago, and it was a tremendous lift and Kiddush Hashem to see a shul packed with Baal Habatim being respectful and quiet during all of the davening. A diginified davening is one of the foundations of our shul and hopefully we will find the strength to continue to improve our davening.
