| Mrs. Sara Malka Winter holds a Master of Science degree in education and is a sought-after speaker in her community of Silver Spring, Maryland. As a teenager, Mrs. Winter founded Ashreinu, a Canadian kiruv organization dedicated to Jewish outreach to the Russian immigrant community, which has influenced hundreds of girls. Mrs. Winter lived in Israel for eight years with her family, where she taught and lectured across Jerusalem in seminaries, outreach centers, and high schools. In 2008, Mrs. Winter moved to Maryland to help found the Greater Washington Community Kollel, together with her husband, Rabbi Menachem Winter. She continues to lecture throughout the Washington, DC area as a Senior Lecturer for the Kollel on diverse topics, including Tefillah, Chumash, Nach, Tehillim, Chagim, and Mitzvos. Mrs. Winter is also a beloved teacher at the Yeshiva of Greater Washington Girls Division. At the OU Women's Initiative, Sara Malka taught Sefer Tehillim 53-62 and 120-134 to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program. | | | Dvar Haftorah OU Women's Initiative Founding Director Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman | | | | | | From Egypt to Eternity — The Double "אָנֹכִי" Parshat Shoftim | | | The opening words of this week's Haftarah ring with promise: אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם, I, I am the One who comforts you." The repetition of the word "אָנֹכִי" is striking. It is not merely poetic emphasis, but rather a theologically rich expression that bridges the redemptive arc of Jewish history. This doubled "I" is a message of deep consolation: not just that Hashem will bring comfort, but that the very source of that comfort is He Himself, with no intermediary. The Zohar teaches that the redemption from Egypt was not an isolated event, but the spiritual seed of the ultimate redemption. When Hashem spoke to Yaakov Avinu before he descended to Egypt, He promised: אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרָיְמָה, וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַּם עָלֹה, I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up (Bereishit 46:4). This dual "אָנֹכִי" — "I will descend" and "I will ascend" — echoes again in our Haftarah. Just as Hashem Himself descended with us into exile, so too He assures us that He will be the One to lift us up. The redemption will not come through a shaliach, an agent or emissary, but by the Divine Presence itself — a geulah that is direct and complete. The Shemot Rabbah (3:4) adds a beautiful thread to this tapestry of meaning. It notes that the word "אָנֹכִי" is used at two critical moments in redemptive history. When Israel went down to Egypt, Hashem said "אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ" — and at the end of days, before the final redemption, the Navi Malachi declares: הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם ה' הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃, Lo, I will send the prophet Eliyah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of G-D. There too, the verse opens with הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙. The word "אָנֹכִי" thus becomes a spiritual bookend — the first marking the descent into exile, the second heralding our ascent into eternal geulah. In this light, the comfort offered in our Haftarah takes on new meaning. Hashem is not merely offering consolation for past suffering. He is connecting the first redemption to the final one, assuring us that the process is unfolding as promised. Just as He descended into Egypt and redeemed us with signs and wonders, so too He will redeem us again — but this time in a way that is greater in scope and permanence, a redemption that will never be followed by exile. אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם, I, I am the One who comforts you.I descended with you. I will ascend with you. I redeemed you before, and I will redeem you again. That is the promise. That is the comfort. | | | As part of your weekly learning, join Torat Imecha Parsha with Mrs. Esther Wachstock. Register below to receive weekly recordings. | | | |
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