“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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The Sin of Hypocrisy
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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 …
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Some Ingredients of Religious Faith
“…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 …
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No Messiah, Please
“The days in which we live lend themselves to the appearance of a Messiah.” Rabbi Olan’s sermon “No Messiah, Please,” aired on WFAA and KRLD on January 19, 1969, just one day before the inauguration …
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Holding Fast to Our Traditions
“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 …
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An Attempt at Prophecy–A Sermon for 1969
“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 …
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Getting Rid of Our Guilts
“Guilt, it appears, festers and grows until it dominates our lives with fear and trembling.” I have heard it said jokingly that guilt is the gift that keeps on giving. Without using these exact words, …
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What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
“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, …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 