Sometimes we lift our eyes to Heaven in deep, sincere prayer. Sometimes we recite each word of our tefillah with awe, reverence, and sincerity. But, sadly, sometimes we don't.

Touched by a Prayer 2 will surely help upgrade the quality and the beauty of the tefillos of those of us who struggle to invest our daily prayers with more meaning. Rabbi Yechiel Spero has already touched our hearts and minds with his inimitable Touched by a Story series. His bestselling book, Touched by a Prayer, brought a new dimension to his work, and to our lives, by combining insightful and fascinating essays on the daily prayers with stories that illustrate the major themes of the prayer. Rabbi Spero touched our souls in ways only a master educator, storyteller, and writer could.

In Touched by a Prayer 2 Rabbi Spero continues elevating our prayers to a new, higher level while at the same time deepening our understanding of them. Beginning with the blessing of Yotzer Ohr and continuing to the end of Shacharis, the Morning Service, the essays and stories of this book show us the meaning and significance of the words we recite each day. We will understand how Shema can be the Jewish people's "mission statement," and develop a new perspective on each of the blessings of Shemoneh Esrei, the centerpiece of our prayers. And, of course, at the same time we will read inspiring stories that take us from a Chassidic Rebbe's courtyard to a Cleveland bakery, from a Moscow cafe to an oncology ward in a Seattle hospital. This is a book filled with heartwarming stories that will touch our hearts, our minds -- and most assuredly, our prayers.

Touched by a Prayer 2 is a must-have for teachers looking to ignite a fire in their students - or for anyone searching to find Hashem as their constant companion. And isn't that all of us?