The Priest Who Said Better Strange Work Than Charity

"And they turned aside there and said to him, Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what have you here?" (Judges 18:3). They said to him: Are you not descended from Moses, of whom it is written, "Do not draw near here" (Exodus 3:5)? Are you not descended from Moses, of whom it is written, "What is that in your hand?" (Exodus 4:2)? Are you not descended from Moses, of whom it is written, "But you, stand here with Me" (Deuteronomy 5:28) - and you would serve as a priest for idolatry? He said to them: Thus have I received from the house of my father's father: A person should always hire himself out to avodah zarah [literally strange service] rather than become dependent on other people. He understood this to mean actual idolatry, but it is not so; rather, it means work that is strange to him [beneath his station]. As Rav said to Rav Kahana: Skin a carcass in the marketplace and take your wage, and do not say, I am a priest, I am a great man, and this matter is degrading to me. When David saw that money was exceedingly dear to him, he appointed him over the treasuries. And was his name Shevuel? Was his name not Jonathan? Rabbi Yonatan said: This teaches that he returned to God [shav la-El] with all his heart.