Max Weiman's Page

Is it permissible to be angry with God? I asked this question in a recent survey and found many people believe it is. Some people answered that it is permissible because it is part of our free will. This came as a surprise to me because we obviously do not share a clear definition of free will. So let’s start with that. Because definitions are crucial. I found this out recently when my two year old informed me she had just finished washing something she had in her mouth. Later I saw her swishing… Continue

Whenever I bring my family to the East Coast, they pick up little nuances from the observant Jews of the New York area. “The counselor said I should take two dollars and pick myself up a nawmal swim cap,” my six-year-old daughter told me. Somehow in a NY accent, the word “normal” contains subtleties of implication we don’t have in the Midwest. It seems that lots of observant Jews place an importance on keeping the status quo and not doing anything unusual. Normal means keeping the status quo. Th… Continue