In addition to being a courageous fighter for social justice, Rabbi Olan was also one of the leading theologians of Reform Judaism. It is in that role that we see him in this sermon, delivered …
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“Two Holidays–Two Religions”
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What It Takes to Live in Peace
“The television camera brings into my home a close-up of a boy blown apart, bleeding, his face twisted in agony. Television has brought that boy into my home, he sits at my table, he stands …
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What Do You Want From God?
“If we could meet God, we might ask Him the same question which Jeremiah put to Him. Why do the righteous suffer and why do the wicked prosper?” It is not an uncommon thought that …
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Some Things Are Not for Sale
“Maybe we should add an eleventh commandment—‘love thyself.’” In this sermon delivered on December 17, 1967, Rabbi Olan is concerned with the effects of mass market consumer culture on personal integrity. According to Rabbi Olan, …
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Marrying Someone of Another Faith
“Neither shalt thou make marriage with them… so will the anger of thy Lord be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee quickly.” Deuteronomy 7:3-4 Thus the Book of Deuteronomy answers the question of …
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Laughing at God
“We always have a great need for a faith which tells us that the impossible is possible.” Miracles were the topic of Rabbi Olan’s December 3, 1967 radio sermon. The “Laughing at God” title is …
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Youthful Rebellion Against the Old Morality
“A generation goes and a generation comes.” Rabbi Olan starts this sermon, delivered November 26, 1967, with the observation that “the world… is in constant evolution. Nothing stands still.” That makes youthful rebellion expectable, even …
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Losing Faith in Human Nature
“It is not too difficult to sympathize with God as He looks upon men* acting selfishly, deceitfully, in pride, with cruelty, and always with indifference. That He should conclude to wipe out the experiment and …
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The Just and the Unjust War
“…honest men must speak and speak loudly when a crucial moral issue is at stake.” If today’s deeply divided national outlook concerns you, it should. If you think that the rigid polarization of the United …
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The Scoffer Among Us
“Happy is the man who… does not sit in the seat of the scornful.” Psalms 1.1 In this sermon of November 5, 1967, Rabbi Olan contrasts the stance of scoffing at all morality and faith …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 