“Wisdom in this hour would dictate the recognition that there are virtues and weaknesses in both positions [conservative and liberal]… The truth is that we need both views for a healthy moral experience.” In order …
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Digging for Old Treasures
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A Time to Speak
“Modern clergymen are paid by the laymen. They are in the almost ridiculous position of taking a salary from people whom they are called upon to judge in God’s name.” December 7, 1969 (Pearl Harbor …
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God’s Promises, Promises!
“What shakes religious faith is the disappointment that comes when God fails to keep His promise.” November 23, 1969 What is that promise? It was very important to Rabbi Olan that the “God faith”, as …
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God in a Secular World
“Are we living at the beginning of the end of the God faith?” November 16, 1969 In 1969, the evidence suggested to Rabbi Olan that this might be the case. And he wasn’t just talking …
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Get Yourself a Good Heart
As we read Rabbi Olan’s sermons every week, we notice a question which frequently comes to the fore: What do you think is the good [we should] cherish most? In other words, what is most …
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The Christian-Jewish Encounter
“The history of religion presents a sorry spectacle.” October 26, 1969 In addressing what he called the Christian-Jewish encounter in 1969, Rabbi Olan walked a fine line between righteous indignation and even-handedness. On the one …
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Religion–The Experience of Life’s Wholeness
“Men and women today live in an imbalance. Our emphasis is upon the practical, the rational, the logical. We are alien to the world which can be known only by experience, by feeling…. There is …
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The Moon and I
“The phenomenal achievement of the human mind exhibited in the journey to the moon illuminates in shining brightness the sickness of the human condition.” On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to …
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Modern Man’s Need for Prayer
“Can prayer have any meaning at all for a modern person? If it cannot ask God to set aside the laws of nature and perform a miracle, and if it is not aimed at changing …
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On Being Given Another Chance
“If we could live our lives all over again, what changes would we make? How differently would we do things from what we did in the past?” December 28, 1969 found Rabbi Olan in a …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 