11 Elul 5785/September 4, 2025
Cantor Joanna Alexander

When disagreeing over cultural parts of life, as one might do over sports, movies or comics, disagreeing for the sake of comradery, for the sake of learning from others’ opinions, or even for the sake of trying to convince them, may feel like fleeting fun. When disagreeing over life and death, morality, ethics and the future of the world, it is often difficult to overcome an “us versus them” mentality.

Machloket l’shem shamayim asks one to stand in another’s shoes and acknowledge their perspective, empathize with the narrative while still believing in the rightness of one’s own argument.

When we argue for the sake of heaven, we know we deal with urgent matters of justice on this earth, matters which defy simple answers. But matters on which life and death may reside. And yet, even with such dire consequences we must be open to disagreement, we must seek where those disagreements can broaden our arguments, where they can strengthen our arguments, where they can help us expand our sympathies.

Our tradition asks us to “argue for the sake of heaven” not because we will solve the argument, or find THE answer, but so we will see the divine in the face of our adversary. So, we will know that the surety of our cause can be as disastrous to our people as the unconfronted implementation of “their” cause. When we keep heaven at the center of the disagreement, we cannot forget there is divinity in their opinion as well.