Rabbi Olan in his twenties – quite a dashing figure! Image courtesy of Frances M. Olan and Lionel S. Joseph. Commentary by Tim Binkley. (20220505 #215)
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Walls that divide
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Levi and Elizabeth
Levi Olan and daughter, Elizabeth. Image courtesy of Joshua F. Hirsch. (20220504 #213)
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How easy it is
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Three Generations
Three generations of Olans (l-r): Levi; his daugher, Elizabeth; and his father, Max. Image courtesy of Joshua F. Hirsch. (20220503 #211)
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Bigotry is an insult
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When We Feel Depressed
“In most critical situations, we can light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.“ Rabbi Olan begins this sermon by normalizing “periods of despair and frustration” as reactions both to bad news from the wider …
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God and Auschwitz
“Somehow life and religion can never be the same after Auschwitz.“ In the light of intense human cruelty and suffering, it is natural to ask “Where is God?” and “Why doesn’t God intervene?” Is God …
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Beware of False Messiahs
“There is no easy road to the Promised Land. There is no way of avoiding the wilderness of suffering and endurance in our journey towards the better life. No one can relieve us of our …
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Thou Shalt Teach Thy Son
“It is easy, it seems, to bomb masses of people. It is more difficult to do it to the individual. It is easier to hate a group than a person.” In his radio sermon of …
Rabbi Levi A. Olan: The Conscience of the City 