Daily Chumash By Rabbi Mendel Yusewitz · Rabbi Mendel Yusewitz

Vayikra, Sunday

March 15, 2026·20 min·2 clips

Why does God call Moses with a special 'loving call' before speaking, and what does it reveal about their relationship?

1. Rabbi Mendel Yusewitz begins the weekly Chumash lesson on Parashat Vayikra, the opening portion of the Book of Leviticus (Toras Kohanim). 2. The rabbi serves as the sole teacher and host, delivering the lesson in a mix of English and Hebrew/Yiddish Torah terminology without named guests. 3. The episode establishes how God communicated uniquely with Moses and introduces the laws governing voluntary animal offerings brought to the Tabernacle. 4. The word 'Vayikra' — a loving call — is shown to differ from 'Vayikar,' the word used for God's contact with non-Jewish prophets, which implies an impure or accidental encounter. 5. Aaron is excluded from the divine call 13 times in the text, with Rashi listing each instance to prove that even when the Torah says God spoke to 'Moses and Aaron,' Aaron only received the message secondhand through Moses. 6. God's voice was described as the powerful 'voice of the Almighty' (kol shakai), yet it stopped at the Chatzer (courtyard) boundary of the Mishkan and did not travel outside. 7. The voice emanated specifically from between the two Kruvim atop the Ark, not from the entire structure. 8. The purpose of breaks (Hafsakas — marked by the letters Samach and Pei in the text) was to give Moses time to process each concept before the next began. 9. The word 'Leimer' is explained as Moses's instruction to go and tell the people 'things that conquer their hearts' and report back whether they accepted them. 10. Rashi proves this interpretation by noting that God did not speak to Moses for 38 years after the sin of the spies until that entire generation died, because the divine communication was always in Israel's honor. 11. Voluntary Karbanos (Nedava) are the subject of the opening verses — offerings given freely, not under obligation, specifically from cattle (bakar) or sheep (tzayn). 12. The word 'adam' is used for the donor to indicate that just as Adam had nothing stolen (owned everything), the Karban must not come from stolen property. 13. The word 'b'hema' (livestock) is clarified through a klal-u'frat (general-and-specific) rule: the general term would include wild animals, but the subsequent specific mention of cattle and sheep excludes non-domesticated animals. 14. Additional exclusions detail that an animal that had relations with a person, one worshipped as an idol, or one condemned for goring a person is disqualified from use as a Karban. 15. The offering must be a male (zakhar) without blemish (tamim), and once designated, the owner can be coerced to actually bring it. 16. The Rambam's explanation of coercion is presented: since everyone's inner will is to serve God, pressing someone until they say 'I want' merely reveals their true inner desire. 17. The episode is delivered in a calm, pedagogical style with dense Talmudic and Midrashic citations, moving verse by verse through Rashi's commentary. 18. The format is a structured lecture with no interruptions, typical of daily Chumash study programs. 19. This episode suits listeners already studying Jewish texts who want a detailed breakdown of Rashi on Vayikra. 20. Those unfamiliar with basic Hebrew, Aramaic, and Talmudic terminology will find the content inaccessible without prior background.

As heard by us

A brisk Torah class that turns Vayikra's offering laws into a clear working map.

Vayikra opens with a close look at voluntary offerings, and this class stays tight to the passage as it moves from Moshe's call into the rules that sort out which animals count and which ones do not.

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Why you'd press play

When you want Vayikra explained phrase by phrase, with the legal mechanics kept in view.

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