Religious leader beginning to talk and talk (6)
I believe the answer is:
rabbit
'talk' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'religious leader beginning to talk' is the wordplay.
'religious leader' becomes 'rabbi' (Jewish religious leader).
'beginning to' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'talk' is 't'.
'rabbi'+'t'='RABBIT'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for rabbit that I've seen before include "Animal called coney" , "Cony" , "family pet?" , "Small mammal (not good at sports)" , "Chatter; poor games-player" .)