Religious leader talks vacantly and waffles (7)
I believe the answer is:
rabbits
'waffles' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'religious leader talks vacantly' is the wordplay.
'religious leader' becomes 'rabbi' (Jewish religious leader).
'talks vacantly' becomes 'ts' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'rabbi'+'ts'='RABBITS'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rabbits that I've seen before include "waffles" , "Watership Down protagonists" , "Talks at length" , "Bat ribs in the mammals" , "poor players" .)