The mission of this blog is to stimulate interest in the deeply perceptive and still-relevant teachings of Levi A. Olan (1903-1984) by sharing from the Levi A. Olan Sermons and Images at Bridwell Library Digital Collection. The title "Conscience of the City" was applied to Rabbi Olan by a Fortune magazine reporter in 1964. Although Olan's city was Dallas, his thought transcends locality. Our goal is to...
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Pity the Poor Parent Today
“Our time is full of experts who write and lecture us on how to be proper and helpful parents. But we are not helped and we do not change because the fault lies at a …
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A family picture
This 1948 photograph of Rabbi Olan with son David and daughter Frances was taken in front of their Worcester, Massachusetts home. Image courtesy of Elizabeth Hirsch.
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How Can We Believe In God In a World Like This?
“It is not easy to believe in God. There are times when it does not seem ‘good to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises to His name.’” In this sermon, Rabbi Olan gets …
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Atheism: a philosophy of despair
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Future bloggers
Left to right: Elizabeth and Frances, daughters of Rabbi Levi and Sarita Olan, circa 1948. Image courtesy of Elizabeth Olan Hirsch.
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Not free not to give
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Tim Binkley leading
one of the March, 2019 Olan sermons discussion classes at Temple Emanu-El, Dallas. This lunch-and-learn group met under the leadership of Dr. Morton Prager from 2013 to 2018. In the spring of 2019 SMU Bridwell …
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First Anniversary Notes
As we begin our second year, let’s look back on our blog and its reception. Through March 31, 2019 the writing team (Anita Olan, Tim Binkley, Elizabeth Hirsch, Joshua Hirsch, and Frances Olan) created 82 …
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Rabbi Olan and Joshua Hirsch, circa 1981-1983.
Grandson Joshua Hirsch shares these special memories: [I] remember the time I was interested in Marxism in college and I asked him what his opinion of it was, and he said he could believe in …
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An anecdote
