Universal Torah Network

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

G-d is in His heaven, but Korach & his crowd want what’s His!

The Deadly Plague of Cynicism Sown by Korach Threatens to Destroy All of Israel!

Meet Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi: He’s a big-time negotiator, false healer and woman hater. He a master of the bluff and master of the proposition. He wraps himself in a cloak of decency and sure loves talking in the name of religion. Fortunately, Tzvi Richman is once again in the studio with Yitzchak Reuven, and his sober take on Korach’s  self serving rhetoric helps to keep the rest of us from getting swept away by Korach’s honey-tongued power grab. After last week’s kid-glove reception of the twelve spies, Moshe  employs a strong armed response to Korach’s  attempted coup, along with truth, righteousness and an appeal to the people’s better nature. Yes, it’s like the earth just opened and swallowed him up. He reached too high, was thrown back to the ground! Just past the debacle of the spies and now with Korach  in our cross-hairs, we welcome the new month of Tammuz  – a G-d given opportunity to invest all our resources in rectifying the sin of the spies.

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

Shelach: Sending the Spies: Why an’ what’s the reason for?

Too Many Choices, Too Many Voices, Too Many Spies Spoil the Mission!

An innocent sneak preview into the soon to be conquered holy land of Israel turns into a debacle that reverberates throughout the centuries. Why were the spies sent into the land and why did they praise the land but despise their own selves? These questions, and many more, are asked by Tzvi Richman, filling in for his father, Rabbi Richman, who is currently in the USA teaching Torah, and Yitzchak Reuven. Was this a case of too much democracy? We witness the rise of the two spies, Yehoshua and Calev, who defied the the defeatists and would become the only men of their generation to enter the land thirty nine years later. Yehoshua certainly learned the lesson of the failed spy mission. We see this when he himself orders two spies to slip into Jericho. But have we ourselves learned the lesson? Are we committed to take the land and hold onto it, come what will?

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

Wherefore Art Thou, O Generation of the Desert?

Everybody Has Their Role in Serving G-d, Not Only the Levites: Shake it up & Go!

Hang on tight as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven join the generation of the desert for a roller coaster ride of spiritual ups and down and emotional highs and lows. In the aftermath of the completion, dedication and inauguration of the Tabernacle, the individual children of Israel each need to find their own unique role and way of serving G-d. This makes for a sometimes rocky ride across the desert sands and many a frustrating moment for Moshe. What was true for the generation that left Egypt is no less true for today’s generation. We’ve all got a part to play in helping Israel to fulfill her destiny.

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

The Test of the Sotah and the Mystery of Erasing G-d’s Name

King David, the Sotah, & the Garden of Eden: I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

As the people of Israel prepare to read parashat Naso  this week, we have received the Torah anew at Mount Sinai on Shavuout and we are poised, in this book of Numbers, to enter into the Land of Israel. But suddenly we encounter two unusual individuals in our Torah portion: the sotah, or suspected adulteress, and the Nazirite, who has taken a personal vow of abstention. In this week’s edition of Temple Talk, our hosts explore the relationship between these two iconoclastic archetypes, and their eternal significance in the spiritual odyssey that is Israel’s mission on this earth. Why does G-d allow His holy name to be erased, and why is that essential for the survival of humanity? It’s all part of the cosmic rectification that takes place in the Holy Temple.

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

Special Guest Appearance by the Legendary Avraham Fried!

First Fruits and the Torah of Earthiness: A Down-To-Earth Shavuot Primer

“Take my tears!”  sings the legendary Jewish singer and entertainer, Avraham Fried. He’s referring to a plea to G-d, to use our tears to build the Third Holy Temple. Wait a minute… am I hearing you right? What Torah is this written in? What planet are we on? Well, as another great Jewish singer and entertainer sings, “People are crazy and times are strange.”  In this week’s uncut, unprecedented, uncensored Shavuot edition of Temple Talk, Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Richman, together with all of Israel, prepare to receive the Torah anew at Mount Sinai. But our hosts ask: Just what is the Torah we will be receiving? And how will it change us? And how will it change the world? And just what does it mean to be a Jew? “Take the rags away from your face, now ain’t the time for your tears”  sings our favorite perennial Jewish poet. Tune into this week’s explosive, exclusive and unchained all-time special Temple Talk… but it will cost you. Be prepared to accept responsibility. Be prepared to hear the truth.

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download

Temple Talk is a weekly internet radio webcast with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute.

This week features:

Parashat Bechukotei and Rabbi Akiva’s Vision of Consolation

The Word From G-d, and It’s Not Politically Correct: Galut is Death, Period

The Book of Leviticus concludes this week with parashat Bechukotei, a Torah portion that features beautiful words of idyllic blessing guaranteeing Israel’s future when she but heeds her covenant with the Al-mighty. Conversely, harsh words of admonition describe the nation’s fate if she turns her back on G-d and puts her faith in “happenstance;” that leads to exile, tantamount to death itself. But Whoa! Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Richman conclude that it is up to Israel to turn the woe into whoa! and simply get with the program, in tune with the flow of all creation. No wonder this Torah portion, which hinges upon our realization of G-d’s hand upon us at all times and under all circumstances, leads us right up to the joyous celebration of Jerusalem Day, 5772, a day which reveals great Divine providence and G-d’s protection, even as He brings us out of the exile and back home to the Land of Israel. This week’s edition of Temple Talk is one for the Hall of Fame!

Standard Podcast Play NowPlay in Popup | Download