Parshas Vayakhel: HOW TO LIFT A CAR

What extraordinary abilities might be lying dormant within you, waiting to be awakened? The ancient Jewish concept of "Nosoi Libo" (raising one's heart) reveals a profound truth about human potential that's as relevant today as it was when the Mishkan was built thousands of years ago.

When the Israelites needed to construct the Tabernacle, they faced a seemingly impossible challenge. After generations of slavery, no one possessed the sophisticated craftsmanship skills required. Yet remarkably, individuals stepped forward, their hearts stirred to volunteer despite having no experience. As Ramban (Nachmanides) beautifully explains in Parshas Vayakel, these people discovered within their very DNA talents they never knew they possessed—simply because they had the courage to say "I'll do it" first.

This pattern repeats throughout Jewish history. The Rambam (Maimonides) undertook writing the entire Torah in clear, accessible language—an almost unimaginable task that resulted in the monumental Mishneh Torah. Modern examples abound too, like the mother who lifted a one-ton car to save her trapped son, accessing superhuman strength through sheer necessity and commitment.

The wisdom here is counterintuitive yet powerful: we don't volunteer for tasks because we're capable; rather, we discover our capabilities by volunteering first. Opportunity and accountability precede the revelation of ability. This principle applies to everything from addressing communal challenges like the shidduch crisis to personal growth in Torah learning—success follows initiative, not the other way around.

Are you curious what might be encoded in your spiritual DNA? What talents remain undiscovered because you haven't yet raised your heart to say "I'll find a way"? Take on responsibility, commit yourself to worthy causes, and watch as previously unknown abilities emerge. As our ancestors who built the Mishkan discovered, the question isn't if you'll succeed, but when.

Chapters

• 0:00 Ramban's Wisdom in Parshas Vayakel
• 5:24 Understanding Nosoi Libo: Raising the Heart
• 12:02 Finding Hidden Talents in Our DNA
• 18:36 The Rambam's Ambitious Undertaking
• 24:57 Modern Applications of Raising Your Heart
• 31:40 Solving Community Problems Through Initiative

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Within the vast array of life lessons and foundational insights presented by Ramban Nachmanides inside his world-famous and esteemed Pirash HaTayrah, his Torah commentary throughout all of its glory, from Bereshish until Le'einik, holy Yisrael, one essay, one paragraph, is nestled into the trunk, into the core right, smack dab in the middle of Parshas Vayakhel, dab in the middle of Parshas Vayakel. And it's just different. It emerges with distinction, it captures your attention because of its practicality and profound wisdom. And profound wisdom this week is Parshas Vayakel, one of my favorite Parshios. About maybe 15 years ago, give or take, my bar mitzvah was Parshas Vayakel Pekudei. It was a double Parsha. I am a twin. My twin brother leaned Vayakel, I leaned Parshas Pekude and until this day Vayakhel Pekude has a unique place in my heart being read by my bar mitzvah teacher in his tone. I can hear my brother laning it as he would practice it at home. So Parsha Tzvayakil is special.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Inside of Parsha Tzvayakil, it basically is a delineation of all the fulfillment of the commandments of how to go about building the Mishkan, of the commandments of how to go about building the Mishkan. Every single item is told how it was built with a kasher tziva, ha-shemes. Moshe was done exactly as prescribed. But to find this Ramban I want to bring you to Vayetzei, kol ha-das b'nei Yisrael me-lifnei Moshe. When the whole community of the Israelites, they left Moshe's presence. When the whole community of the Israelites, they left Moshe's presence. It's now time to get down to business, to work, and the Puzzle says as follows and everyone that was part of Klal Yisrael, any person that felt himself a noso libo, that literally means his heart raised, his spirit, he felt was stirred, felt it that he wanted to give, to donate. All those folks, those two groups of people they are, who walked forward to make all of the OL, moed's sacred instruments, kalem and sacred vestments.

Speaker 1: 3:29

But it isn't immediately simple to translate or find the difference between what it is that is a Nussel Lebo and what it is that's a Nadvarucho, the Ramban, the great Rav, moses ben Nachman, born in 1194, dying somewhere around 1270, and one of the most incredible paragraphs ever to be penned in Jewish history. And his Pirish ala Torah, tells us as follows as to what is the definition of noso libo to have a heart that is raised Of noso libo. To have a heart that is raised, zokterem ban Vayavou kol ish asher noso libo ala chachamim haosim b'malacha yoy markim Ki lo matzino ala misnavdim nesiyo slave. Noso. Libo is not a word that you would use about a donor, about a philanthropist donating a million dollars. Aval yaskir behem nedevos. Nedevos is about donating, but nosolibo is about actual handiwork Putting on the work boots with calluses all over the palm, chapped hands with a Black Decker hammer inside of one of them. That's what it means, nosolibo Working, not just donating. Okay, why does the Torah use such a unique phrase that these workers, the people that came forward to do the artisan craftsmanship, why is it described in such a way as raising up of the heart? Tell us more, please, ramban.

Speaker 1: 5:20

To build the Mishkan required adeptness, adroitness, precision, skill. You needed to have steady hands, like a heart surgeon. You needed to bind and weave and plaster, but nobody knew how to do it. We're talking about a nation of people that has been nothing but slaves for generations. That has been nothing but slaves for generations. They have, no, not even the slightest clue of how to go about these careful and precise calculations, to build one of the most complex structures ever built. No one should have the time, says the Ramban, to even learn on the job.

Speaker 1: 6:03

A Misha Iman by Miodov Kla Normally a guy right out of Kolel gets a chance just to manage some real estate so he can learn on the job as kind of like a college-like internship experience. That's how he learns the business. There is no time for that. So how do we have volunteers to build the Mishkan? It's a huge problem. Where will the Almighty turn when he's looking to pass out the wrenches to build his Mishkan, zokter and Ban? They'll find it.

Speaker 1: 6:42

And Nussel, libo and those that step forward are those that their hearts stirred within them. But these individuals, they just discovered within themselves that they did have these unique talents and they raised up their hearts to find the path of God, to come in front of Moshe, lame or low, and they would say to Moshe I will do all that the master asks. I will find a way, even though I have no experience in building Mishkans. I have no experience in creating brilliant tapestry and creating crushem, creating parochesses and very complex and all-encompassing katoros mixtures. I have no experience in that at all, but I volunteer. And what do you know? When the mensch was when he stepped forward to say Moshe, when can I get to work?

Speaker 1: 8:02

Motzo b'tivo, these people, they found in their DNA the ability to do wondrous things that they had no clue that they could possibly accomplish. The people whose hearts stirred within them the Nosei Liboi L'dvar Hashem, those folks are the ones that God calls upon to build the great things. The Ramban is explaining to us that the project hit a snag Moshe took the Jewish people out, hashem took the Jewish people out. And now, when everything is to be fulfilled in Hashem, resting his presence upon the people, there is now a huge issue because we have nobody that has the skills. Nobody has learned the crafts from an instructor from a Mr Miyagi and nobody has trained their hands to an instructor from a Mr Miyagi and nobody has trained their hands to be able to do it. Everybody is a novice when it comes to building, framing, plastering, carpeting and completing. There's no one here to get the job done. These words should shake you.

Speaker 1: 9:23

But the folks that accomplished it, they just discovered it within their DNA that they did know how. They knew how to handle this complicated assignment because they fought and they stepped forward and raised their hearts to the path of God and said whatever it is that the Lord. Because they fought and they stepped forward and raised their hearts to the path of God and said whatever it is that the Lord asketh, speaketh. This is an attribute that Rabbi Yeruchem calls. This is the Milo that Rabbi Yeruchem describes as being a strong-willed undertaker, being an enterprising individual. That's what a Nasser Liboy means. It means somebody that says if it needs to be done, then I'll get it done. It means that they step forward without a clue how or why.

Speaker 1: 10:22

But all they know is that, when you zoom out and you understand that all wealthy people in all facets of life, all successful people in all different aspects of life, no matter the career choice, you recognize that this skill of v'yigba li'ba'i bedar chai Hashem, this skill of being ambitious and doing whatever it is that's asked of you, because if there is a will, then you'll find a way. That is the attribute that leads towards remarkable success. This is the attribute. This is the attribute of success. Being a nosoi libo is what makes billionaires. Being a nosoi libo is what creates successful people. It's the people that are visionaries. It's the people that say it needs to be done. So, even if it requires that I have to learn an entirely new skill, it doesn't matter, I'll do whatever it takes. And what happens is something incredible.

Speaker 1: 11:33

When a person undertakes an initiative, when he rises to the occasion and he then charts his path down the Darche. Hashem, like to build a Mishkan the Ramban says. You begin to open up your DNA, your chromosomes, your deoxyribonucleic acid that's something along of what DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. You open that up and you pull out genetic information and you start to discover that whoa, I can sing, I really have great reading comprehension. This is incredible. I know how to build a house. I never knew how to do any of those things, or so I thought. But in between these two linked strands that wind together, strands that wind together, kind of like a twisted bugle chip, a double helix, this DNA starts to become deeper and deeper and you realize, mazza bativo, that my DNA there is a whole lot more than what meets the eye. I'm capable of a whole lot. But it only starts to show when you have taken up the initiative and stepped forward and then said Hashem, I'm here to build the house, I'm here to build the domicile and edifice of glory, and all of a sudden then the talent starts to burst forth.

Speaker 1: 13:22

People think that they should only volunteer for projects when they feel that they are sufficiently credible, have sufficient ability to do it, and the truth is that it's backwards. It's absolutely backwards, because you'll only truly know your ability when you lock yourself in and give yourself the accountability. Only once are you vayig balibo lidvar Hashem, do you begin to have a v'motza bativo, that you find all your talents. It's an incredible realization, something astonishing in kohos hanefesh, in the learning about what we are truly capable of. When you become a hustler I like to use that word a hustler for Hashem To build a mishkan, a visionary, someone that finds the way To build a mishkan, a visionary, someone that finds the way, you start to see all of your hatzlacha and your ruchnias.

Speaker 1: 14:31

Too many times has a person bought in to a new dream of his and then, all of a sudden, has he discovered that he knows how to learn, he isn't stupid, he knows how to read Hebrew. He just first needed to really buy in and stir his heart to step forward and said it needs to be done. I have to become a God seeker, a God prayer. I need to be humble, I need to know what God wants of me. I have to have an entrepreneurial mindset. I need to be able to, and some days that requires waking up at 3 am and some days it requires long, lengthy nights, but when your heart is stirred and inspired and you live with this entrepreneurial bal-yizm Rabbi Yeruchem calls it this enterprising mindset. That's how you become someone like the rajpa and that's how you write something like the Mishneh Torah that the Rambam did.

Speaker 1: 15:35

This is one of my most favorite pieces of literature that was ever penned. It's the Rambam in his Yad Chazaka, his Mishnah Torah. This is what he writes in his introduction. If you really want to see this idea of being a Yigba, libay B'dvar Hashem in all of its glory, right in front of your face, the Rambam writes in his introduction, and because of this, I have therefore girded my loins. The Rambam has just set out a problem as to why Jewish people don't have the time or the head to be able to understand all of Torah. So because of this issue that people don't know Torah I have girded my loins.

Speaker 1: 16:19

My name is Moses the sonbi, maimon HaSvardi. My name is Moses the son of Maimon the Spaniard, ve'nish'anti al-hatzur baruch hu, and I am relying upon Hashem here. Uvi naisi b'chol elu ba'svarim. I have pondered all of the books Ve'ra'isi l'chaber d'var ham'esbarim mi'ch. Therefore, after contemplating all of these texts, I have sought to compose a work that will include all of the previous works.

Speaker 1: 16:51

I will tell you all that is mutter, all that is asr, all that is pure, all that is impure, with the rest of all of the laws. I'm going to give it to you in clear, succinct, vederach kitzara type of manner. It'll be terse, it'll be simple, it'll be elementary. Ad shitehi toirish abal peh Kula sedura b'fiakol. This book will give you the entire oral law, since Moshe Rabbeinu down to the books of Sanhedrin and Masech Tamakos, until it will be sadura b'fi ha'kol, all of the arguments and objections. It will now be fluent inside the mouth of every Jew, without any question, without any back and forth argument of answers Like we have, where this Manda Amar holds, like this, and this opinions, like this. It will all be simple and just. Until now, I have read all of it. And here I am, here's my name. It will all be revealed To a child or to an adult.

Speaker 1: 18:28

All of Torah. That is my undertaking. You won't need any other work, but din midine, yisrael the Rambam undertook a project. All you need is that you should go forward and read Tanakh. If you're running away from Ukraine or Persia, or Bab or America or Yerushalayim, wherever it is that the Gullus takes us. Grab yourself an art scroll, tanakh, and grab yourself a set of Mishnah Torah. You'll have in there the Takhanos, the Menhugim, the Gezer, the Shinasher, the Yom HaShem, the Moshe, the Rabbeinu, the Malchiber, the Talmud. All of it will be in simple, easy-to-read format. I'm going to call it the reiterating of the Torah.

Speaker 1: 19:39

The Rambam's Nossai Libo was that he felt fit that there needed to be a Sefer that includes all of Torah. Now, just think about that All of Torah. Imagine I told you that you want to go ahead and you have to write a book that will encompass, like he said, all the arguments, all the opinions, all the Mutter and Aser, all the Menhugim, all the Takkanos, all the Gezeros, all of Shas. Summarize it in clear form so that the kindergartner should be able to know that you ever heard such an insane undertaking. And here I am, moshe ben Maimon, neartialat Hachitzoni girding his loins, the son of Maimon the Spaniard, relying upon the rock.

Speaker 1: 20:24

And look, look at the success and look, after maybe 25 or 15 years or so, locking himself up and just learning and writing and learning and writing and editing. Look at what a human is capable of. Look at what the DNA can actually start to produce in a person. I mean, maybe the Rambam already knew that, it was there from before. But I would argue that the Rambam found a whole lot of godless after he wrote and put pen to paper that here I am to accomplish this great matter, and so here I am to go about it systematically, just chewing and digesting, organizing, editing, proofreading and penning one of the greatest, all-encompassing works of literature that has ever been composed, because it comes from the attribute of being a nosoi liboi lidvar Hashem, being a visionary, being someone that doesn't take no for an answer.

Speaker 1: 21:35

After you do that and you raise your heart, arouse your feelings and emotions. That's when you start to see writings like the Rambam come to fruition and movements in the Torah world that change the face of Jewish life for all. Aren't you the slightest bit worried that you haven't discovered what's inside of your DNA? Aren't you the slightest bit interested, curious, of what should be found in your double helix deoxyribolinicucleic acid molecule that has all of your genetic information inside? Don't you want to know what you're capable of? Well then, raise your heart to serve Hashem. I want to give you an example of how it could be done, or how it would look in modern times to really show of rising your heart to Hashem, raising your heart to Hashem of what these people did just a couple thousand years ago when they raised their heart to build the Mishkan. The Mishkan was a hard thing to do. It would really be like.

Speaker 1: 22:52

Imagine right now, in 2025, if Shmuel Kamenetsky would say Rabbi, say we need everybody in Klal Yisrael to come together and we're all going to build a nuclear submarine because the impending war of Gog and Magog that's going to happen as Moshiach is coming. We need people to build this nuclear submarine to help us win the war. Who would say yes to that? Nobody knows how I mean. Maybe there is some super-brainiac Jew that does know how, but you and I.

Speaker 1: 23:25

What it means to be Nossau Libo means to step forward and say I'll build the nuclear reactor, I will build the inner hull that protects the crew from the water pressure bearing down inside of the submarine. I'll raise my heart and stir my soul to build the ballast tanks that are located between the two holes on the nuclear submarine. If Shmuel Kamanetsky needs a rudder that's vertically aligned, I can do that, doesn't matter. Casing of these radioactive fuel rods and designed alloys that sound out sound waves in the atmosphere, control equipment that decontaminates the crew's breathing air needs to be built, ridding the carbon dioxide of its impurities down there. If that's what needs to be done, then the midah of nosoi liboi l'dvar Hashem means to stir your heart and then to go out and say, if it needs to be done, I'll find a way. I'll pick up a wrench and the first piece, I'll try and try to connect it to the second piece and if I can't, then I'll buy a book on it. Then I'll ask AI about it. Maybe there's a YouTube video about it. Maybe I'll call up and have a meeting with a world expert in torpedo room activities and birthing in mess decks. It doesn't matter how or why, but with a nostriliboy, ledvar Hashem, an enterprising entrepreneurial not taking no non-quitting lone wolf type of mindset, that's how you build nuclear submarines, that's how you build Mishkanos L'Hashem and that's how you write the Mishnah Torah. The opportunity and the accountability is what leads you to finding your true ability. Don't you want to know what's in your DNA? In some crazy cases, you may even rise to the occasion and stir your heart to a point that you'll discover inside of your DNA that you are truly a superhero.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Because it happened just around 40 years ago and in 1982, a woman named Angela Cavallo was stuck in a terrible situation, but when she launched into action and took the initiative, she did something that was inhumane in the most incredible way. Angela Cavallo, she came home to find her teenage son, tony, working, was a car mechanic working underneath the car's suspension and all of a sudden, the car that was lifted up on these jacks. It failed and it crushed her son underneath it and he was lying there bleeding out underneath a 1964 Chevy Impala. And what happened next was this mother Angela came home, saw what was happening and, as bystanders testified, she walked over to the car in a fit of hysterical rage and lifted a Chevy Impala literally more than a ton of weight. A mother named Angela lifted a ton of weight off of her son to save him. That means that inside of the kohos ha-nefesh of this person, after deciding that something needed to be done under such duress, she was able to excrete a hormone of adrenaline that binds the adrenetic receptors to the muscle tissue in a way that you launch into this fascinating phenomenon of hysterical strength in which you are. In Hebrew, we call that yigba liba ybedarche yashem umotza b'tivo to do incredible things. She found inside of her genetic alphabet, inside of her chromosomes, the ability to lift a car, even though she was an elderly Hispanic woman, even though she was an elderly Hispanic woman. That is a classic example of so let me be blunt with you and point out some places inside of the communities of the Jewish people that we all could use a bit of help and that need some of your attention, and maybe your heart will be stirred to be able to leap into action. Give it your attention and then watch as you find incredible kochos, ha-nefesh to solve these problems In the Jewish world.

Speaker 1: 28:30

We know that there's a shidduch crisis. Too many people are living without a shidduch. Something needs to be done. Do I know what it is? No, but if you're Vayig BaLibo and you decide you're going to find an answer and you won't stop until you have, you're going to find some incredible, incredible kohos inside of you, some incredible abilities and who knows how many shidduchim that you will make and how you may change the very process of how people find shidduchim. Too many children fail to recognize the beauty of Tyre in 2025 because of the beauty that they discover in the technology. Maybe consider stirring your heart to finding or launching an initiative that helps children to stay focused on what's important. These are problems that need answers.

Speaker 1: 29:31

Too many couples struggle from infertility and do not have the opportunity to give a snuggling hug to a cute little infant, and in a recent interview I just heard I was flabbergasted, flummoxed, shocked to hear that many couples simply it's just an issue of money, because they don't have the money, the financial backing, to pay for infertility treatments. A founder of Boney Olam, I heard, said that a lot of it is just. We need to fundraise more and more for Boney Olam and we need new undertakers, new balizmes, more vayig balibos, because we need more people to raise more money and launch more initiatives so that we can bring this to Hatzlacha. It's there for the taking. It just takes undertaking.

Speaker 1: 30:24

Many people were born into homes that were irreligious and so they've never felt the beauty of Shabbos. They don't know what it's like to learn Shnayim Mikra with Rashi and sit with your children around the table singing songs of Baruch, kel, elyon, asher, nassan, menucha, kol, mekadei, shvi'i, having Parsha candies, shabbos parties, shabbos Shpatzir, shabbos walks. They don't know the beauty of a shot of warm Woodford bourbon before 11 am. Maybe consider launching an outreach organization. Don't you want to share that gift with those that are considered to have been taken captive by the secular world and are missing out on this? Maybe Vayik Bat Libo in that area, many fellows, including myself, we don't know the Hilchot Shabbos as we should. Maybe a new Eireisa, talmud Torah, mishneh Brewer, a Deershoe-like program. Hilchot Shabbos and I bet you'll find incredible skills in your DNA to write, study, teach, learn and you'll figure out that you do know how to learn. Even if you are one of those fellows that at the current moment doesn't know Hilchot Shabbos, I bet that you'll have time to learn about it. If you launch an organization that has the accountability to offer that service, you'll find that ability.

Speaker 1: 32:00

We have two more midrashim to bring this point home, but we're going to skip them in the sense of time, in the interest of time. One is about staring at ants and another is about putting masks on your face. But to just crystallize, skip over those ideas and solidify the point, would you swipe off of this talk? It should be fully crystal clear that those that built the Mishkan, those that accomplished great things, those that wrote Mishnah Torahs and Chedushi HaRashbas and Pirish HaRashis, those that accomplished stuff that Anshai Knesset HaGadolah could only dream of it's. Because they felt inspired, they launched the initiative and then they did not stop, they did not quit. They kept at it until they found Hatzlacha.

Speaker 1: 33:00

But that mindset, it's literally just a question of when and not if. When will the hatzlacha come? Maybe I'll fail five more times, maybe ten more, it doesn't matter. Eventually it's going to come. Become a balyizma, become a naso liboi. Step forward in front of Klal Yisrael and raise your heart and approach Moshe and find all the superhuman talents that you have in your DNA. You'll see how resourceful you are. You'll recognize how imaginative, inventive and creative you really are. And to conclude, we'll put it as simple as this. As I once heard one of the great Darshanim of this generation say you want to figure out what you can truly accomplish. Well, taking on the responsibility is what truly uncovers your incredible abilities.