| Mrs. Michal Horowitz is a Torah teacher whose shiurim reach audiences worldwide. She teaches weekly in her Five Towns, NY, community and lectures nationally and internationally. A longtime presenter for the OU Women's Initiative, she inaugurated the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program. In September 2023, she was invited by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to serve as the first female scholar to keynote the Annual Pre-Yamim Noraim Conference for the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. She is the author of Abled: Living With a Disability, a Torah View (Mosaica Press, 2025) and lives in Woodmere, NY, with her family. | | | Dvar Haftorah OU Women's Initiative Founding Director Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman | | | | | | Brick by Brick Melachim I 5:26-6:13 | | | This past week, thousands of women completed the third cycle of Torat Imecha Nach Yomi. A siyum marks a moment of completion — but more deeply, it reveals what has been built, day by day, perek by perek. This week's haftorah describes the construction of the Beit HaMikdash. Shlomo HaMelech gathers materials and begins the sacred work. And then, in the midst of construction, Hashem speaks: וְהַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹנֶה — אִם תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי… וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל"The House that you are building — if you walk in My statutes… I will dwell among the children of Israel." (Melachim I 6:12–13). The structure creates the possibility of Divine presence. But it is consistency, the daily act of walking in His ways, that allows that presence to dwell. The Abarbanel teaches that Tanach itself reflects the structure of the Mikdash. Torah corresponds to the Kodesh HaKodashim, the innermost sanctum. Ketuvim parallels the outer courtyard. And Nevi'im corresponds to the Heichal - the space between, where the Divine word enters human life. This is the space of Nach. Each day of learning is another stone placed. Steadily. Deliberately. Lovingly. The Haftorah teaches that the stones were shaped before they arrived, "no hammer or iron tool was heard in the House while it was being built." (Melachim I 6:7) The structure emerged quietly, the visible result of prior, unseen effort. So too at a siyum. What stood before us was not simply the completion of a cycle, but the visible form of something built slowly over two years — a sanctuary formed through daily return. And the promise of the Haftorah echoes beyond the Mikdash: וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל"I will dwell among the children of Israel." We are promised that Hashem will not only dwell in sacred spaces, but within those who build them. And so we begin again. Because the goal is never simply to finish but to build a place where the Hashem's presence can dwell. | | | As part of your weekly learning, join Torat Imecha Parsha with Mrs. Hyndi Mendelowitz. Register below to receive weekly recordings. | | | |
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