Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City

“If we prepare ourselves with enduring things like nature, art, friends, and love for people, we will grow old gracefully.” In this sermon, delivered on February 16, 1969, Rabbi Olan meditates on what we need …

“A fearless man [sic] is either a fool or crazy and had better be locked up for his own safety. Let us be grateful that we can still be afraid. It will help us survive.” …

“…No one communion possesses the full understanding of the nature of God.  The differences are beneficial for they enlarge our view and give us a richer comprehension of God.” In this sermon, delivered on January …

“The pattern of life is woven over the loom of time.  Its beauty depends upon the harmonization of the past and the future into a living present.” The theme of this sermon, delivered on January …

“A rabbi is not a prophet. He has had no singular experience with God which entitles him to say: ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ He is only the keeper of the Biblical Prophetic tradition and its …

“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, …

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 …

“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 …

“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 …

“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 …