Knowledge more than credentials. Wisdom more than status.

From A Treasury of Jewish Folklore by Nathan Ausubel.

Learning Knows No Class

There were two families that lived in Sepphoris. One consisted of aristocrats, educated people who were wise in counsel. The other one consisted of common, undistinguished people.

Each day, when the two families proceeded to the house of the Nasi to pay their respects to him, the aristocrats would enter first and the common people could go in only after the others had left.

Now it happened that these insignificant people began to apply themselves to study, and in time they became great scholars. Then they demanded that they get precedence over the aristocrats when they went to pay their respects to the Nasi.

This incident raised a great deal of discussion everywhere. When Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish was asked for an opinion he passed the question on to Rabbi Yohanan who concluded:

“A bastard who is a scholar is superior to a High Priest who is an ignoramus.”