vital information: Fwd: Torat Imecha Haftorah: Chayei Sarah

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Fwd: Torat Imecha Haftorah: Chayei Sarah

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: The OU Women's Initiative <ouwomen@ounetwork.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 7:01 AM
Subject: Torat Imecha Haftorah: Chayei Sarah
To: <agentemes4@gmail.com>

Torat Imecha Haftorah is dedicated as a zechus that all those waiting should find their zivug hagun soon and with ease.

Haftorah Toldot

Mrs. Michal Horowitz

Listen Now

Mrs. Michal Horowitz delivers weekly shiurim in her community of the Five Towns, NY, while her Zoom shiurim reach audiences around the world. She has been a scholar in residence in schools and communities, nationally and internationally. In September 2023, Michal was a keynote speaker at Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis' Pre-Yamim Noraim Conference, for the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. At the OU Women's Initiative, she inaugurated the Torat Imecha Parsha program presenting weekly shiurim on Sefer Bereishit. Michal taught Yehoshua, Tehillim 36-41, and Divrei Hayamim II to over 5,000 women across the globe as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi cycle I. She taught Tehillim 1-41, and Mishlei for cycle II. She taught Shoftim for cycle III. Michal presented Rosh Chodesh, Selichot Night and Nach Yomi Siyum shiurim and taught in-depth courses at the ALIT Virtual Summer Learning Programs of 2020, '21, '22, '23, and '24. Michal's weekly OU Parsha shiur can be found on the AllParsha App. She has thousands of audio and video shiurim online. Her writings have been published in YU's Torah-To-Go, HaMizrachi, the OU's Jewish Action magazine, and most recently in "Reclaiming Dignity: A Guide to Tzniut". Her story can be found on all major streaming platforms on the "Rolling With the Punches" Podcast, Episode 14, Sounds of Silence. Michal lives in Woodmere, NY with her husband and family.

Dvar Haftorah

OU Women's Initiative

Founding Director

Rebbetzin Dr.

Adina Shmidman

Chosen Love

Malachi 1:1-2:7

Imagine a parent turning to a child — a child who has tested limits, pushed boundaries, and still carries the marks of past mistakes. The parent says, softly but certainly, "I love you." And the child, caught between doubt and longing, replies, "How do I know? How can I be sure?"

This is the moment Malachi captures in the opening of our Haftorah: אהבתי אתכם, אמר ה, I have loved you, says Hashem. And the Jewish people respond, ואמרתם במה אהבתנו, How have You loved us.

Rather than defiance, the Abarbanel hears deep vulnerability. The people are not denying Hashem's love but rather they ask poignantly and powerfully במה — Because of what? What makes us worthy of this love? Is it only because we are children of Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov? Are we loved only as heirs of the past — or are we valued as individuals with our own worth?

Hashem's answer is striking and profound.Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet I loved Jacob. The Abarbanel reflects that if Hashem's love were only for the sake of the forefathers, Esav, equally a grandson of Avraham, would have shared in it. But he does not. This proves that Hashem's love is not a mere extension of ancestral merit. It is a love uniquely chosen and directed to us and for us.

Hashem is saying - I love you for you — not just for who came before you and not only because of where you come from, but because of who you are, and who you are meant to be.

This Haftorah holds a mirror up to every generation: We are not only heirs to a legacy — we are beloved, individually and profoundly in the eyes of Hashem. May this truth fill us with humble confidence and renewed purpose — to live lives worthy of such love.