The Crown of a Good Name Above Torah Priesthood and Kingship

Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemyah. Rabbi Yehudah says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Moses, go and appoint for Me a High Priest." He said to Him, "From which tribe?" He said to him, "From the tribe of Levi." At that moment Moses rejoiced and said, "How beloved is my tribe!" He said to him, "By your life, it is Aaron your brother," as it is said, "And bring near to yourself Aaron your brother" (Exodus 28:1). He said to Him, "With what shall I anoint him?" He said to him, "With the anointing oil," as it is said, "And you shall take the anointing oil, etc." (ibid. 29:7). "But his service is no service, and he is liable to death, were it not for the names of the tribes that are engraved upon his heart," as it is written, "And Aaron shall bear the names, etc." (ibid.). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: More beloved to Me are the names of the tribes than the tribe of Levi and than the High Priest who is anointed with the anointing oil. Rabbi Bivai said in the name of Rabbi Reuven: If they were missing a single letter, they would not effect atonement. Rabbi Hoshaya taught: Even a single vowel-point. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: There are three crowns—the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship—and the crown of a good name rises above them all. The crown of kingship—David merited it and took it. The crown of priesthood—Aaron merited it and took it. The crown of Torah remains as a rebuke to all who come into the world, to say: For if the crown of priesthood and the crown of kingship were available, I would have merited them and taken them; but behold, the crown of Torah remains—whoever merits it, it is reckoned for him as though he merited them all, and whoever did not merit Torah, did not merit any one of them. Rabbi Avin said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: We find that the Holy One, blessed be He, went a journey of five hundred years in order to take for Himself a good name, as it is written, "Whom God went to redeem to Himself as a people, to make Himself a name" (2 Samuel 7:23).