“Once we grasp the essential meaning of our existence, we can respond to the injustices and inequities around us.”

Rabbi Olan, in his sermon of February 21, 1965, opines that we may have accepted a limited view of “the central meaning of our existence.” Could it be that those who claim a lifestyle of rugged individualism have drawn a conclusion that needs further consideration? Rabbi seems to suggest this when he utters a scathing indictment against “… the hermit, the recluse [as] essentially an immoral person… [who] is a parasite and a human failure.”

How does Rabbi Olan come to make such a statement?

*Written by Lillie R. Jenkins Walker.*