Parasha Terumah that we read this week deals with the plan for the construction of the “Mishkan – Tabernacle” the temporary temple that accompanied the people of Israel in their wanderings and the worship appliances within it.

Inside the Mishkan are placed a number of vessels: an ark for the tablets of the covenant, an altar for incense, a menorah, and a table for a special bread. Three of these four vessels were decorated with a golden crown – a kind of crown – on the upper part: the ark, the altar, and the table. The crown was intended to adorn the vessels and give them a royal appearance. The sages of the Midrash looked at these three instruments and discovered that each of them symbolized an important national aspect of the people of Israel:

There are three crowns: the crown of kingship, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of Torah. The crown of kingship is the table. The altar is the crown of priesthood. The ark is the crown of Torah. The table symbolizes abundance and wealth, and therefore the crown on which it rests is considered a ‘crown of kingship’. The altar symbolizes the service of the Temple, and for this reason the crown on which it rests is appropriate to be a ‘crown of priesthood’. The crown on the Ark which contains the Tablets of the Covenant – the Torah – is a ‘crown of Torah.’

Another Midrash teaches us that there is a fundamental difference between the first two crowns and the third crown. The first crowns, the crown of kingship and the crown of priesthood, are intended for a specific tribe in the people of Israel. Not everyone can be a king, and not everyone who desires this can be a priest in the Temple. In contrast, the third crown, the crown of Torah, is not intended for a specific group or tribe.

“There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingdom. The crown of priesthood –was earned by Aaron HaCohen, the crown of kingdom – was earned by king David, the crown of Torah – it is laid down for generations, and everyone who earns the Torah is as if he earned all three.”

We learned two things in this midrash. One, that the crown of Torah is intended for every person and every generation. There is no intellectual elite in Judaism. On the contrary. Every person is invited to enter the Beit Midrash and study Torah, to express an opinion, and to take part in the millennia-old debate. The second thing we learned is that the crown of Torah is the most important crown, and whoever earns it is as if he earned both the priesthood and the kingdom.

These two important aspects are reflected in the story of the confrontation between the rabbis Shemaiah and Avtalion and the High Priest in Jerusalem. Shemaiah and Avtalion were the greatest sages in Jerusalem in the 1st century BC. These two sages did not come from privileged families, but from families of Gentiles who had converted.

This background will help us understand the story we read in the Babylonian Talmud: A story about a high priest who left the Temple at the end of Yom Kippur, and the crowd was accompany him. When the crowd saw the rabbis Shemaiah and Avtalion, they left the high priest and followed the rabbis Shemaiah and Avtalion.

This tension between the Torah scholars Shemaiah and Avtalion, who came from the lower classes of society, and the privileged high priest reflects the gap between the crown of priesthood and the crown of Torah. In Torah, anyone can earn it, provided they invest and study. As for priesthood? A person earns an inheritance from his ancestors, but he himself may not be worthy of it.

To complete the picture, the Mishnah adds another crown

“Three crowns are: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingdom – and the crown of a good name rises upon their backs.”(Mishnah Avot 4:13)

Whether a person inherits from his ancestors a priesthood or a kingdom, or whether a person invests in Torah study, all have a common goal that they should strive for: ‘a crown of a good name’ – a person who does good deeds, is enjoyed and appreciated by those around him, and his good name precedes him.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen