The mishna in Avot (1:10) states: Love work, loath the rabbinate[1].”
On this Reb Mendel of Kotzk asked:[2] “If one is to hate being in the rabbinate, who will guide the Jewish People in Jewish law?”
“Rather,” the meaning is, said Reb Mendel, “that one should hate the mastery over others—the haughtiness and ego that accompanies the rabbinate—but love the teaching Torah and dedication to others.”
[1] Though the usual translation is “positions of authority,” for the purpose of this idiom we are translating literally.
[2] Emet Mkotzk Titzmach, Pg. 196
