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The Hebrew month of Elul is the last month of the Jewish year. As such, it is considered a month of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days. Special meditations are added to the daily service for some, known as S’lichot, or penitential prayers. (*The Saturday before Rosh Hashanah is also known as S’lichot, and it is used as a night of contemplation and study.) For several years, a group of Reform clergy and educators has collaborated on a series of Elul Thoughts. These are shared with our congregations in a daily email throughout the month. 

It is with great honor that we once again bring Elul Thoughts to our congregations across the United States and Canada this year. We have been sending Elul Thoughts to our congregations since 2008 when Rabbi David Young worked with Rabbi Alan Litwak at Temple Sinai in North Miami Beach, FL. This project was his brainchild then, and it has taken on a renewed life again and again as we connect with colleagues and friends who want to contribute. Every year we invite cantors, rabbis, and educators. Some years we invite congregants or teachers from other areas of expertise. This year our participants were asked to write on the theme of “Makhloket l'shem Shamayim” (argument for the sake of Heaven). We hope that you find inspiration for positive change from these messages, and we wish you a blessed Elul full of discovery and renewal.

This year’s participants include:
Cantor Joanna Alexander, Temple Israel, Omaha, NE
Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Temple Israel, Tulsa, OK
Rabbi Deana Berezin, Temple Israel, Omaha, NE
Rabbi Erin Boxt, Temple Beth Shalom, Ocala, FL
Rabbi Alan Cook, Sinai Temple, Champaign, IL
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Temple Emanuel, Winston-Salem, NC
Rabbi Glenn Ettman, Congregation Or Ami, Lafayette Hill, PA
Rabbi Daniel Fellman, Temple Sinai, Pittsburgh, PA
Rabbi Emma Gottlieb, Am Shalom Congregation, Barrie, Ontario
Rabbi Rony Keller, Congregation B’nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL
Rabbi Daniel Kirzane, KAM Isaiah Israel, Chicago, IL
Rabbi Brian Leiken, Congregation Beth Israel, Austin, TX
Rabbi Bradley Levenberg, Temple Sinai, Atlanta, GA
Rabbi Eric Linder, Congregation Children of Israel, Athens, GA
Rabbi Alan Litwak, Temple Sinai of North Dade, North Miami Beach, FL
Rabbi Kelly Levy, Congregation Beth Israel, Austin, TX
Rabbi Laurence Malinger, Temple Shalom of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, NJ
Cantor Jenna Sagan, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA
Rabbi Simone Schicker, Temple B’nai Israel, Kalamazoo, MI
Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Temple Israel, Omaha, NE
Rabbi Judith Siegal, Temple Judea, Coral Gables, FL
Rabbi Don Weber, Lenox, MA
Rabbi Stephen Wise, Shaarei-Beth El Congregation, Oakville, ON, Canada
Rabbi David N. Young, Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh, PA
Shaliach Tzibur Raymond Zachary, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA

1 Elul 5785 | August 25, 2025
Rabbi Laurence Malinger
This past year, I returned to school to pursue my Funeral Director’s license, a journey that has challenged and nourished me physically and spiritually. As Elul invites us to reflect and prepare for the New Year, I see deep connections between this season of introspection, Jewish ethics, and the sacred work of accompanying the dead.
Makhloket l'shem Shamayim, taught in Pirkei Avot (5:17), refers to disagreements rooted in humility and truth-seeking, not ego. Hillel and Shammai are our model—debating passionately but with mutual respect and for the good of the community. Elul mirrors this spirit, calling us to teshuvah and to mend relationships—with others and with God.
The funeral industry, steeped in grief and transition, often brings conflict—between families, with providers, or over religious customs. Disputes about burial, tradition vs. modernity, or faith vs. secularism can either be divisive or, when approached with care, serve a higher purpose. In these sacred moments, rabbis and funeral directors become mediators—helping transform grief-stricken conflict into compassion and dignity. Elul reminds us: death is a mirror, and funerals can prompt the living to reflect, forgive, and reconnect.
For those of us in this field, cheshbon hanefesh demands we ask: Are we ethical, fair, and honoring the dead with integrity? In the space between death and renewal, Elul and the funeral world intersect—challenging us to seek truth, elevate conflict, and walk humbly in service of something greater.

2 Elul 5785 | August 26, 2025
Rabbi Alan Litwak
Car Colors
When I was a child, my mother bought a Volvo station wagon, after we got into an accident in which we had flipped over and over down an icy embankment.  Yet, what I really remember about the Volvo was its orange color.  She called it “tangerine” which only gives you a sense of its brightness. While I bemoaned being seen in that car, there was nothing about the color that made it run differently, more/less efficiently, or more/less comfortably.  In fact, the only distinguishing feature was that it could be distinguished from the sea of gray, black, and white cars in a parking lot.  While that might have been a bonus feature, my mother chose the color because “I liked it and it was going to be my car!”  She also wanted the safest car available.  Whether it was the color or the safety record, the car told a story about my mother. 
In life, we make decisions that reflect our personal history, our own sense of self, and even our feelings about the surrounding culture.  When we argue with others who have made different choices, do we take time to understand the stories behind their choices?  Is it possible that we are arguing over meaningless differences like car colors, or just for the sake of arguing?  Do we argue just to show our uniqueness? Our independence?
If we are going to argue, can we do so with the intention of seeking a deeper truth?

3 Elul 5785 | August 27, 2025
Rabbi Bradley Levenberg
We live in a time of loud arguments. Social media rewards outrage. Cable news thrives on conflict. And, too often, disagreement becomes performance, something staged to signal loyalty, score points, or build a personal brand. That’s not disagreement for the sake of heaven. That’s disagreement for the sake of ego.
A makhloket l'shem shamayim—a disagreement for the sake of Heaven—is something else entirely. It’s not performative; it’s purposeful. The Talmud teaches that the debates between Hillel and Shammai endure precisely because they were never about winning. Rather, they were about learning. Hillel quotes Shammai’s views before his own. Shammai never questioned Hillel’s sincerity. Their arguments were passionate but respectful and always in service of a shared pursuit of truth.
Performative disagreement thrives in echo chambers, but real courage is displayed in sacred disagreement. It takes courage to listen. It takes courage to change. Perhaps most importantly, it takes courage to remain in relationship even when we don’t see eye to eye.
The difference is not how loudly we argue. It’s what we hope to build through the argument. If the goal is attention, it’s performative. If the goal is insight, it may be sacred.
Machloket l'shem shamayim doesn’t promise agreement. It promises something more enduring: the chance to grow wiser… together.
 

4 Elul 5785 | August 28, 2025
Cantor Jenna Sagan
Sacred Disagreement, Shared Song
What if the soundtrack to a disagreement could change the way we hear one another?
In this month of Elul, as we reflect, return, and prepare for the High Holy Days, I’ve been thinking not just about inner work, but about how we engage with others—especially when we don’t see eye to eye.
Judaism offers us the concept of Makhloket l'shem Shamayim—disagreement for the sake of Heaven. This is a form of argument that seeks understanding over victory, elevates rather than divides, and honors the dignity of every voice involved.
To aid in the exploration of this concept, I’ve created a playlist of songs that explore difference, dialogue, humility, and connection. Some are drawn from Jewish tradition, like Josh Warshawsky’s “Emet,” a powerful reminder that truth is often layered and complex—and that real understanding begins when we’re willing to listen for more than one voice. Others come from the secular world, like Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” a poetic meditation on perspective and growth.
May this music invite you to breathe deeply, listen fully, and step into the sacred space between voices—a space where something holy can emerge.
Click here to explore the Elul Playlist: https://tinyurl.com/elul5785
 

5 Elul 5785 | August 29, 2025
Rabbi Erin Boxt
As the month of Elul moves along, we are tasked with seeking out those whom we have wronged for forgiveness and granting forgiveness to those who we feel have wronged us. This is no easy task - yet, it is vital for us as we approach the holiest moments on the Jewish calendar: faced with our own vulnerability in front of God. There have been times in my life when I felt accused of committing an act against another which would require a sincere request of forgiveness. I am certain every one of us has, at some point in their lives, faced the same difficult moment(s).
What if we do not agree with what we are accused of? This will usually lead to a disagreement which could very well become heated and make matters even worse. What do we do when we believe we have been wronged and another disagrees with us? Arguments lead to arguments ad nauseum. If we turn to our sacred texts, we find there are two major types of debates/arguments: Makhloket l'shem Shamayim - an argument for the sake of Heaven & Makhloket Lo l'shem Shamayim - an argument not for the sake of Heaven. It is quite alright and expected for Jewish people (and all people) to disagree and even argue...as long as the arguments are from a place of love and growth, Makhloket l'shem Shamayim, rather than hatred and misunderstanding, Makhloket Lo l'shem Shamayim. Sacred, loving relationships with others is an absolute necessity.

6 Elul 5785 | August 30, 2025
Rabbi Don Weber
​Digital Divide
Before streaming music, before CDs, before cassettes, there was vinyl. Now, music lovers are embracing vinyl again.
No matter how high the sampling rate, reducing music to 1s and 0s can never preserve the richness of vinyl, because vinyl is analog. It doesn’t use bits and bytes, but instead the needle traces hills and valleys of sound. Sound from vinyl is never ON or OFF; it is a million variations and nuances per second, nonstop.
Digital conversations are no better than digital sound. RIGHT or LEFT, PRO or CON, RIGHT or WRONG leave no room for variations and nuance. Yet our society has pushed us into digital corners of us versus them, and the sound of our collective voices is less rich as a result.
Audiophiles know that analog music is richer, deeper and more alive than digital, and so are analog conversations. Hard-line “digital” positions leave no room for compromise, for meeting in the middle, because they don’t have a middle.
An argument for the sake of heaven does not require abandoning our beliefs. But it does require understanding the heaven – the holiness – on the other side. No matter how much we want to think it is true, “our side” does not have a monopoly on holiness, or on truth. 
In the year ahead, may we seek out the hills and valleys of ideas we see as foreign, that we may find holiness and humanity in the rolling, flowing music of the human mind.