Why You Shouldn't Hibernate Through Leviticus

This discussion reveals the depth and relevance of Sefer Vayikra, challenging listeners to engage with its teachings rather than hibernate through them. We dissect the importance of inner authenticity and the true essence of a Torah scholar while encouraging community support. 

• Understanding the concept of Leviticus Hibernation 
• The necessity of authentic character in Torah study 
• Exploring the communal responsibilities towards scholars 
• The significance of personal engagement with Torah teachings 

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Debilitating Leviticus Hibernation
• 10:00 Dredging Insight from the Torah
• 20:00 The True Essence of a Torah Scholar

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

It is a debilitating sickness that scientists and psychotherapists alike refer to as the Leviticus Hibernation and in the following Sefer Vayikra, it seems to the patient to be nothing more than an abstract and impractical, drama-less set of laws about a temple that does not stand and Karbonos that I cannot bring. So he curls up in a ball, stays under the covers, gathers his little cubs underneath the snow and says I'll come out when the drama begins. Wake me up for bad midbar, he declares. But this year that will not be our approach. We will witness how, when you dredge every single possok and you take a magnifying glass to the precision inside of the prophetic messages and the proper grammar used in the Torah, you will see that the lessons are bursting forth for us. And to give you a bit of a smorgasbord, a little bit of a tasting to whet our palate, to see how this is done. The Gemara in Yuma takes some crucial takeaways, as Yuma 72b says. In one place the Pasek says and you should make the Aaron, referring to Moshe Rabbeinu, but in another place it says it seems to be plural that many people should build the Aaron. The Gemara concludes an incredible takeaway, mikan. From here we see Letal Medchachem, that a Torah scholar. His neighborhood, his community really should take care of his responsibilities so that he can get back to his responsibilities of learning and holding up the entire community. The Gemara takes this away, as Rashi explains, because the beginning it is singular Moshe, you do it, it's your commandment. But then everyone got involved because the community should endeavor to keep the Talmud Chacham free of his obligation so he can get back to saving the world. Back in front of the books Should be lining up in front of your local kolel or local Orthodox rabbi's house and saying let me go to Walmart for you, let me take the kids to Moorah, Let me change the children's Because I want to free up your time for more world-saving endeavors.

Speaker 1: 2:28

Another takeaway, the very next gemara. You've probably heard of it that the Aron, the Ark of the Covenant that housed the Luchas, habris and the Torah. It was to be. It should be cloaked and covered in gold in the inside and the outside. It was box of gold, box of wood and then box of gold. That was how Bezalel made it. That's how it was supposed to be.

Speaker 1: 2:50

But the Gemara says we see from here that any Talmud Chacham that is not tocho kibaro, that is not gold in the inside and gold on the outside, he is not a genuine Torah scholar, but rather it is insincere and false righteousness. Then he is not a Talmud Chacham. You need to be gold on the inside and gold on the outside. An incredible takeaway, the Chaskuni wants to know. Well then, why not make just a whole, our own gold, if it's all about being gold, the Chaskuni tells us, because that would be too heavy to carry.

Speaker 1: 3:18

So there's precision here, in every Pesach, and so many thoughtful and profound takeaways and lessons. We just cannot fall prey to the Leviticus hibernation. We take our Torah vitamins and we stay strong and we stay insightful. Ladies and gentlemen, keep your thinking caps on and look for all of the lessons inside of the deeply profound spiritual edifice of the holy Mishkan of Hashem's house and all of the incredible actions and holy avodos that are going inside, going on inside of the Mishkan. Don't hibernate for Sefer Vayikra or for the end of Sefer Shamos. Thank you.