“Morah Tziri” hosts the wildly popular Inkredible Kids podcast and leads the Tehillim Army, with 10,000 kids reading Tehillim together. Photos: Dina Brookmyer
How do you help children process and respond to October 7? Right after the attack, this question weighed heavily on Tziri Preis, a thirty-something-year-old former classroom “morah” and host of a lively podcast for children, with thousands of listeners around the world. “Our kids saw us [parents] crying and upset,” Preis recalls. “People were rushing to psychologists to figure out how to explain October 7 to their kids! I thought, ‘I have thousands of kids on my podcast. We need to help these kids with their feelings!’”
So on October 9, 2023, when many Jewish children in the States were off from school for isru chag, Preis, host of the wildly popular Inkredible Kids podcast, led a midday Zoom call with a few hundred families on her email list. The call included the recitation of Tehillim along with an interview with Preis’s young Israeli cousins who were in their ma’amad (safe room). The kids told their peers in America, “We’re scared, but we’re praying. We have a sefer Torah with us, and we know Hashem protects us.”
That call marked the beginning of what Preis, based in Baltimore, Maryland, would later refer to as “the Tehillim Army.” She began leading ten-minute Zoom calls nightly for kids to read Tehillim. She told the children that Tehillim was their weapon in this war.
The Tehillim Army grew organically, peaking that November. Zoom allows up to 1,000 participants, so Preis had to open a live stream on her website TehillimArmy.org to handle her 5,000 to 10,000 participants each night.
To liven up the shows, Preis would invite guests, including entertainment figures such as Moshe Tischler or Simcha Leiner, who would sing a few songs before the children would read Tehillim. Leiner, who is a music producer and is well connected in the Jewish music industry, helped her recruit other entertainers.
Ten minutes of Zoom soon turned into twenty, then thirty. At one point, Preis began offering prizes and raffles. Soon enough, ArtScroll and other companies were calling to offer merchandise. ArtScroll even printed a special “Tehillim Army” sefer Tehillim with a camouflage cover.
Preis’s next step was to bring thousands of children together in person. She organized a massive event at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan, selling out three and a half thousand seats and drawing an equal number of participants via livestream. Yaakov Shwekey, Joey Newcomb and Lipa Schmeltzer performed for the children and joined them in reading Tehillim. “I took my kids,” says Preis’s friend Avigayil Marx. “It was a packed house, with three adorable little boys reading Tehillim onstage and videos of families sharing how the Tehillim Army had impacted them and their families.”
Preis always makes sure to warn her “soldiers” in the Tehillim Army that “we’re not always able to see the direct effects of our tefillot.” But there was one instance in which the impact seemed so clear that she found herself “shaking like a leaf.”
On a February evening in 2024, her guest on the Tehillim Army Zoom was a soldier in northern Israel who had stayed up until 1:00 am to be interviewed on the podcast. He sang with the children and spoke about how much their tefillot meant to him. “We were going overtime, but he was so emotional that I just couldn’t cut him off,” Preis says.
When it was time for Tehillim, Moshe Chaim, a young boy from California, led everyone in reciting chapter 20. Preis told the children that one verse, “eleh varechev ve’eleh vasusim va’anachnu beshem Hashem Elokeinu nazkir—some rely on chariots and some on horses, but we call on the name of Hashem, our G-d,” is so important that they ought to scream it out loud. “Can you do that, Moshe Chaim?” she asked.
Moshe Chaim cupped his hands around his mouth and belted out that verse like a pro, with the other children following suit.
The next morning, Preis woke up to a barrage of thousands of phone messages. “Did you hear what happened?” they said.
The news was reporting that the heroic Israeli operation to rescue hostages Luis Har and Fernando Marman in Rafah had been successful. Some parents whose children participate in Inkredible Kids were claiming it was the children’s prayers that led to the phenomenal miracle. Preis didn’t make the connection until she realized that the rescue happened at 1:49 am, Israel time. That’s 6:49 pm EST—the moment that thousands of children were praying for Israel. At exactly 1:49, the Israeli soldiers had the hostages in hand.
“I started getting calls from all the Jewish media,” Preis says. “The kids got so much chizuk from hearing this story!”
Preis holding the “Tehillim Army” sefer, specially produced for listeners of her podcast.
The Beginning
How did Morah Tziri become the equivalent of a frum female “Mr. Rogers” for thousands of kids?
After a decade of working as a kindergarten morah, Preis realized she was ready for something new. She spent some time at home raising her four children when it dawned on her: there was a dearth of kosher entertainment for frum children. Preis was looking for high-quality, educational entertainment, like a podcast with interview-style conversations geared for kids. “I started to get this bug in my head to do something. I couldn’t find an appropriate podcast for my kids, not in the secular world or the Jewish world.” She had learned the value of technology during Covid-19, when she created “the most fun Covid classroom” for her students. Her Shabbat parties were so lively that whole families would join in. “Tziri made her classes interactive even over Zoom,” says Avigayil, whose daughter was in Preis’s class that year. Once Preis created Inkredible Kids, “it spread by word of mouth, and she transferred her Zoom skills from teaching twenty-three kids to thousands of kids,” Avigayil says.
Once Preis created Inkredible Kids, it spread by word of mouth, and she transferred her Zoom skills from teaching twenty-three kids to thousands of kids.
The podcast was launched in February of 2023, and Preis began releasing shows every two weeks. Preis hosted the show at her dining room table in the beginning (she now has a studio in her basement). She put in countless hours planning, producing and editing, even adding sound effects to keep interest high. Children—and their parents!—loved Morah Tziri’s podcasts, and she quickly amassed a following from all over the world—the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Holland and so many other countries. “She gives kids a listening ear, and they feel so close and connected to her,” says Yosef F., who helps produce her podcasts and videos.
Creating child-centered, authentic content that is both fun and relatable is Preis’s winning formula. At one point, she devoted a show to the topic of why some children have a hard time sitting still during class. “Let’s meet kids who can’t sit still,” she said, opening the program. She then asked her interviewees pointed questions: “How does it feel to have a hard time sitting? How do you handle it? What are some tips?” A big believer in being honest and upfront with kids, Preis addresses challenges ranging from ADHD to dyslexia to having trouble falling asleep. Sometimes she brings in “experts,” but only those who can speak directly and effectively to children. “There’s a way to discuss every topic,” she says. “Kids overhear discussions about things like war or divorce, and I’d rather give them accurate information so they don’t misconstrue what they’ve heard.”
Her upbeat attitude is also appealing to her young audience. “I don’t use labels, and I keep it very positive,” Preis says. “I might have a fourth grader speak about a particular challenge, and then introduce a tenth grader who could show us his journey a few years down the line.”
Almost two years after October 7, Preis’s podcast and Tehillim recitation are still going strong—she continues to convene her Tehillim Army every Thursday night, drawing thousands of kids. But her main goal is to give children a chance to shine. There was one moment when an eight-year-old, who had trouble reading Hebrew due to a vision issue, got a major confidence boost. Preis gave him the opportunity to read a chapter of Tehillim in front of 1,000 kids. When kids—even those who struggle with reading—lead Tehillim, and everyone—including adults—repeats after them, it significantly boosts their self-esteem and confidence, Preis explains. When she sees a struggling child taste success like that, it often moves her to tears.
Preis also strives to impart good middot, such as appreciation for the people in our lives who provide services but don’t always hear our gratitude (think bus drivers, mail carriers, etc.—Preis actually went and filmed herself learning to drive a school bus to show her listeners how demanding it is!). Recently Preis expanded her programming and began producing “Adventures with Tziri,” a video series in which she goes on trips to places like the Coca-Cola factory in Atlanta or an RV show in Pennsylvania. Additionally, she hosts an occasional teen night for girls. For Chanukah, her “I Am a Hero” video featured kids who saw a need and responded to it. “The goal was to inspire the kids who watch it, especially kids who might not have felt capable before,” she says. “I want to empower our next generation of leaders,” says Preis.
Barbara Bensoussan is a writer in Brooklyn and a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.
In This Section
The Pen Is Mightier than the Sword: Fay by Barbara Bensoussan
Fighting the Good Fight: Kassy Akiva by Sandy Eller
Getting to the Root of the Story: Meira K. by Merri Ukraincik
Advocacy on a Higher Level: Tziri Preis by Barbara Bensoussan
One Teen’s Fight against Antisemitism: Sofie Glassman by Yehudis Litvak
That Girl Who Loves the Jews: Adina Fernandez by Sarah Ogince