A friend of mine works for a nursing home. His boss approached him and asked, “How are things going?” He replied, “I’m incredibly busy!” His boss said, “Busy is good! That’s the reason you have a job here!” He told me that this really changed his perspective, and now he is happier while being busy at work.

This story made me feel good because I’m really busy giving daily shiurim and overseeing the operations of my yeshiva, Passaic Torah Institute. The past couple of weeks, I’ve been extra busy with meetings to help make our dinner campaign a success. The annual dinner is our crucial fundraiser to enable us to meet our operating budget, so we can continue to impart the sweetness of Torah to all our participants. In the last year and half, our budget has increased by $100,000 with the addition of our morning kollel and a new young professional initiative. Busy is good!

As I was thinking about raising funds for the yeshiva, this made me more attuned to notice an important concept regarding tzedaka found at the end of Parshas Vayigash. There the Torah describes what happened when the famine in Egypt was in full force. The Egyptians came to purchase food from Yosef, who had stockpiled grain from the years of plenty. When the people ran out of money, they sold their livestock in exchange for food. When they ran out of assets, they sold their land to Yosef (i.e., the Egyptian government) and became sharecroppers. Yosef made them a deal: 20% of the produce they generated would go to Egypt, and they could keep 80%.

The Kli Yakar says that the 20% obligation everyone had to give to Yosef is an allusion to a Jew’s obligation to give ma’aser (tithing). Yaakov gave 20% of his profits to tzedaka, as he had promised Hashem “aseir a’aserenu.” This requirement is written in double form, alluding to the fact that he gave a double tithe. Similarly, the Torah obligates those who own property in Eretz Yisrael to give a double tithe, as follows: Everyone had to give 10% to the Levi, and in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the shemitah cycle, they had to separate ma’aser sheini (a second 10%, which must be eaten inside Yerushalayim). Third- and sixth-year tithing had to be given to poor people.

The Kli Yakar says that a special bracha is bestowed upon a person who gives 20% of his earnings to tzedaka. I am amazed that so many people I meet with tell me that they are part of the chomesh (20%) club.

In Parshas Re’eh, where it says “aseir te’aseir,” the Kli Yakar quotes the pasuk where it says that Hashem will shower blessings upon you “until there is no end.” This surplus is specifically bestowed upon a person who gives 20%. When a person gives a surplus, Hashem will bless that person with a surplus.

Maharil Diskin says that Hashem knew that the Jewish nation might feel it is too much to give 20% for ma’aser. Therefore, Hashem arranged that when the Jews emigrated to Egypt, 20% became the normal amount for taxes, making it easier later to give 20% for tzedaka.

When I lived in Ma’alot Dafna in Yerushalayim, a good friend of mine, Yossi Adler, used to raise funds for many causes in the community: Tomchei Shabbos, Hachnosas Kallah, night kollel and many more worthy tzedakos. I would watch him approach people of means and ask them to give. He was not ashamed to ask for money. I asked him, “Yossi, aren’t you uncomfortable approaching so many people to ask them for large donations?” His response was a game changer for me. He said, “I am just offering them an opportunity to participate in an excellent mitzvah. They can seize the opportunity … or walk away.”

I want to offer all my readers an opportunity to participate and get a share in the mitzvah of Torah learning being provided in our unique yeshiva for adults. Please partner with us and help bring the sweetness of Torah to so many. Please join us at our annual dinner in two weeks on Motzei Shabbos, January 6. May Hashem shower upon you bracha until your lips are compelled to say, “It’s enough!’’

For those who wish to participate in our dinner or just to donate to help in our yeshiva’s growth, please go to: https://ptireception.com

Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is the associate rosh yeshiva of Passaic Torah Institute (PTI)/Yeshiva Ner Boruch. Rabbi Bodenheim can be reached at [email protected]. For more info about PTI and its Torah classes, visit www.pti.shulcloud.com