The Zuckerberg Dividend

The CEO of Facebook just became the wealthiest Jew on earth. At 34, he may have amassed more wealth than anyone since King Solomon. Still, there are three reasons why I wouldn't change places with Mark Zuckerberg for all the money in the world.

1. I am more handsome than he is. If you just get past that whole $75 billion net worth thing, you will see that I am a better-looking man than he is.

2. He owns an island in Hawaii, but my family lives in Israel. You can give me the entire State of Hawaii. For that matter give me the entire state of New York. There is no greater estate than my four square-cubits of the Promised Land. There is no greater happiness than feeling at home in our true Home.

3. Mark Zuckerberg has total control of his company. At any time, he can declare a 2% cash dividend on his stock and still reinvest 50% of his annual income to grow his business – all realistic figures. With that, he can enjoy a $1.5 billion cash reward every year without touching his wealth.

What would you do if you could give $1.5 billion to Yeshivot, Kollelim, Chabad Houses, Emuna Outreach, the poor, the sick, the uneducated — and still retain everything you owned?

Thirty years from now he could have given away $45 billion without sweating a penny. He could live a ripe old age and be held accountable to Hashem for all the good this money could have done but sat in a vault earning 6%.

I don't think I want to be in his shoes when he is facing the Heavenly Tribunal for this.

But Won't I Anyway?

What about my 2% dividend? What about 2% of something I own that won't be affected if I give it away? Won't I be held accountable for that, just like the head of Facebook?

I am awake 17 hours a day, a pretty common level. 2% of that is 20 minutes.

What if I decided to walk 20 minutes less a day? What if I committed to watching one less episode of something? What if I promised Hashem to lighten up my social media time by 1/3 of an hour?

That's 20 minutes a day and my wealth isn't impacted at all. 20 minutes is a daily conversation with Hashem. It's a few pages of The Gate of Emunah inside Duties of the Heart. It's the daily reading of today’s Torah portion. It's a few laws in the Shulchan Aruch.  

It's story time with my children. It’s listening to my wife.

G-d will ask me why I spent 20 minutes writing about Mark Zuckerberg when I could have been doing something more productive myself.

Over 30 years, that 2% amounts to 5 months.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein once celebrated completing the entire Six Orders of the Mishna. He was asked what was so special about this cycle. After all, he had completed many cycles of the entire Gemara – 2711 pages – without such a celebration.

He said that in the few minutes when he wrapped up his tefillin at the end of morning prayers, he would learn a Mishna. The joy was in discovering that in just dedicating a miniscule fraction of his time to something, he completed all of the Mishnayot.

The billionaires aren't unique. They simply amplify what we all have:

The chance to build skyscrapers of greatness with nothing more than a lifetime supply of pebbles.

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David Ben Horin is the author of Thank God for Israel, Zionism that Pays the Rent, and The Great Life Hack which you can have it for free! I also write first class content for startups, non-profits, and businesses of all sizes. If you are in the market for some great copy, check out my portfolio.