“If you want to know what the character of a people is, look at whom they choose to honor for greatness. We are a people who admire success, fame, and power. We are not too …
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Who Are Our Great Men Today?
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The Beast In Each of Us
“If we are to arrive at a valid view of ourselves, we had better recognize that man is not only ‘a little lower than the angels,’ he is, in fact, just a step above the …
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Listen to What Your Dreams Tell You
“Dreams are testimony to our practice of rejecting some basic truths about our lives because we resent them. They awaken us to the necessity of accepting the world as it is.” January 8, 1967 Rabbi …
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Come to Curse–Stay to Bless
“…When we do the wrong things we get the wrong results. …If we live by the demands of righteousness, we shall bring the right results.” In his sermon of January 1, 1967, Rabbi Olan uses …
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The Sin That Punishes
“Before we dismiss the idea of sin as meaningless to our age, we should try to discover its essential character.” In his December 25, 1966 radio sermon, Rabbi Olan spoke about sin and punishment. Both …
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Are Religious People Fooling Themselves?
“We do not know who created the world or how it came to be. Scientists do not know and the Biblical account is a beautiful myth. We do not know what God wills of man, …
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Is This a Holy War?
“Can any war be so holy that [it] warrants the horror it brings to so many innocent people?” Rabbi Olan courageously engaged with some of the most challenging and divisive issues of his time, and …
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Why Men Fight
“The world is a dangerous place. The historic causes which have brought war in the past are present today.” Rabbi Olan preached two sermons that he titled “Why Men Fight.” The first was in 1963 …
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On Being a Mature Person
“The most dangerous thing one can do is to stop growing as a person.” November 27, 1966 In optimal situations, life moves from childhood (total dependence) to adolescence (self-care and maintenance) to adulthood (investing our …
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Life Should Be an Adventure
“Rapid change has a harmful effect upon many people. They find it difficult, and sometimes impossible to adjust. The result is expressed in a fear of the uncertainty and insecurity of the world they inhabit. …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 