“We must move from charity toward justice which is the basic quality of God’s kingdom.”

In this sermon, Rabbi Olan addresses what is arguably his core theme: how the Prophets called upon us to work for justice on earth — for what they called the kingdom of God.

“What does it mean to the modern mind to be told that the Biblical answer to the question of why am I born and why do I live, is that I may achieve the kingdom of God?” 

He confronts the difficulty of maintaining the basic optimism of the Prophets today.  But he also comforts us with advice on how to overcome the seeming impossibility of the Prophets’ commandment.

*Written by Joshua Hirsch*

(Rabbi Olan quotes Leviticus 19:2, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 11:9, the Mourner’s Kaddish, and Matthew 6:9-10. This sermon was originally broadcast on March 24, 1963.)