Questions: I remember hearing Jewish teachings regarding 3 crowns that a man can wear during a lifetime. Although I do not recall exactly what each of them are, my vague recollection is that they refer to royalty, wealth, and the study of Torah. I have also heard that there is another crown that refers to one’s good name and how they live life with the family.

Can you expand on this, and perhaps clear up my cloudy recollections? Where does the teaching about these crowns come from?

Answer: Thank you for your question!

Your quote is found in Pirkei Avos (Chapters of Our Fathers) 4:17 (in some editions it’s 4:13—the order and text are exactly the same in all editions—they just sometimes break up chapters into more or less sub-sections).

“Rabbi Shimon says, ‘There are three crowns: The crown of Torah, the crown of kehuna (priesthood), and the crown of Kingship; but the crown of a good name rises above all of them.’”

The idea here is that there are three national institutions that the Torah says we must honor: Our Torah scholars (see Leviticus 19), kohanim (see Leviticus 21), and the monarchy (see Deuteronomy 17).

But these crowns are not absolutes, because there are times when we are not obligated to honor their bearers (e.g. if the Torah scholar, kohen, or King would begin acting improperly (which is always possible, as G-d endows all human beings with free will)).

However, someone with a rightly earned good name, and not just with a good public relations outfit, always deserves our honor.

More exactly, the crowns of Torah, priesthood and kingship are only fully actualized when combined with a” good name.” What defines a good name, of course, is how closely a person lives up to the ideals taught in the Torah.

Keep asking questions!

Much success,

Shlomo Shulman