“It is not enough to pray and to fast so that God will save us. We are called to go out and do justice, act with mercy, and work in humility among men. The Biblical faith is an optimistic one, hope is a duty, but it depends upon men discharging their obligations to justice and love.”
-Rabbi Levi A. Olan. “A Time to Hope.” October 27, 1963.
“Our time is, in the main, alien to Biblical thought and faith. God as a source of hope is recited in formal worship and called upon as a last desperate cry. Very few people really …
“To succeed today, one must project an image, not be oneself.” The Internet and social media have made Rabbi Olan’s statement even more true today than it was when he said it. And so the fundamental …
“Laws are for human beings who are often all too human. The philosophic anarchist, or the advocate that men live by spirituality alone are advocating a way of life for angels and not for men.” …
“Our age is very much in need of a good moral washing and cleansing.”
-Rabbi Levi A. Olan. “The Clean and the Unclean.” April 21, 1963.
“…Our age exhibits two radically opposite attitudes toward morality – one which would prohibit most pleasurable experiences on the theory that they contaminate and defile. The other would unbind all controls and open wide the …
“The achievements of American democracy and freedom, even if not perfect, even if disappointing at times, have kept alive man’s hope for a day of brotherhood and peace.”
-Rabbi Levi A. Olan. “The Most Important Event.” April 14, 1963.
The sermon entitled “The Most Important Event” was broadcast on April 14, 1963, in the middle of Passover week. In it Rabbi Olan maintains that the key event in Jewish history was the Exodus from …
“Historically, religion tends to ignore the changes which transform the world and the lives of men.” Some people criticize religious communities for not keeping up with the times. Others complain that their churches or synagogues …
“Prejudice is an insult to the dignity of man, the child of God. It is contagious and like a brush fire can burn down a whole civilization unless it is stamped out right at the …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 