“The human creature… has come on the scene endowed with two new qualities, a mind which can know, and the ability to experience which is another way of knowing. If man is going to survive, …
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What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
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A Case for the Older Generation
November 17, 1968 In November 1968, at the age of 65, Rabbi Olan addressed the generation gap and the younger generation’s call to never trust anyone over 30. As usual, he saw both sides of …
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Issues of faith and the coming elections
“We had better face up to the demands of justice, compassion, and brotherhood if we truly seek peace, order and life itself.” In this sermon delivered on November 3, 1968, Rabbi Olan uses the upcoming …
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Is There Anything Sacred Today?
“The heart of the religious experience is the distinction between the sacred and the profane.” October 27, 1968 Rabbi Olan observed in 1968 that this distinction was disappearing. He even saw the positive side of …
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Utopia–Reality or Illusion?
“Who is the realist today—the so-called practical men who are plunging toward disaster on a universal scale, or the prophetic visionary of the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God?” In this sermon delivered …
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The Hope of Christian and Jew
“If ever there was a generation in history that felt hopeless, it is the present one. It will take a miracle to get us out of our doom-like mood.” April 14, 1968 Once again, Rabbi …
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A Leader for These Times
March 31, 1968 In the midst of the 1968 presidential campaign, with the nation in crisis, Rabbi Olan asked in his sermon, “Whom shall we choose to lead us back to health?” He endorsed not …
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Religion and the Social Crisis
“The prophetic faith recognizes God’s presence on earth as well as in heaven…. He asks of [us] that [we] help Him build the good and beloved community.” Rabbi Olan’s sermon “Religion and the Social Crisis”, …
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When We Feel Depressed
“In most critical situations, we can light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.“ Rabbi Olan begins this sermon by normalizing “periods of despair and frustration” as reactions both to bad news from the wider …
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Beware of False Messiahs
“There is no easy road to the Promised Land. There is no way of avoiding the wilderness of suffering and endurance in our journey towards the better life. No one can relieve us of our …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 