“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 …
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On Being Given Another Chance
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War Is Always Immoral
“If there is no justice, there can be no peace.” In this sermon, Rabbi Olan wrestles with an intractable problem: he believes that all wars are immoral, but that some wars are also just or …
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The Ideal Religious Person
“If you would answer for yourself the question ‘Am I a religious person?’ then, measure your life by the standards of Biblical picture of an ideal religious person, Moses.” The 1960s was a decade of …
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To Live With a Mission
“Those who know their mission and work earnestly to fulfill it are really alive.” In this sermon, delivered on March 16, 1969, Rabbi Olan, the preacher, turns preaching on its head, and says that it …
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Building God’s Houses
“This preacher stands in one of the most beautiful of Sanctuaries in a city where twenty percent of the houses of the poor have been officially condemned as unfit for human habitation. How can any …
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People Who See God
“Is it possible in this day of reason and science for anyone to say that he [sic] saw God?” In his March 2, 1969 radio sermon, Rabbi Levi Olan taught that seeing is more than …
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The Sin of Hypocrisy
“We suffer terribly from Sunday words and Monday actions.” In this sermon, delivered on February 23, 1969, Rabbi Olan identifies the Ten Commandments as principles “binding at all times and in all places.” He distinguishes …
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Grow Old and Enjoy It
“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 …
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Fear–The Blessing and the Curse
“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.” …
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We Need to the Heard
“Much of the anxiety which characterizes our lives today derives from the fact that we have nobody to listen to us, to hear us. We speak but are not heard.” If you read this short …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 