Be very careful with your study of Torah, and be exacting with your understanding, because if you make a mistake in learning and that mistake leads to allowing something that is forbidden, we treat that mistake like an intentional sin. What we’re saying here, basically, is that a person has to be very careful to learn, review, and master what they’re trying to understand. When you do that, make sure it’s impossible for you to forget something, especially if you’re a person giving guidance in halacha (Jewish law). An incorrect ruling that you give because you failed to study correctly, because you didn’t apply yourself, and because you didn’t put forth the effort, is eventually treated like an intentional sin. A person knows that he can make mistakes in learning and can make mistakes in understanding, so you have to do whatever you can to make sure that you don’t make those mistakes in your understanding. If you fail to study deeply, then a person who makes a mistake afterward is considered negligent, because you can’t give halachic rulings if you didn’t understand things properly. So if you’re looking at things on a surface level and then giving halachic rulings, you’re doing something negligent, and it’s considered an intentional disregard for the halacha.
Rabbi Shimon says there are three crowns in society, and we honor the holders of those crowns: Keter Torah, Keter Kehuna, and Keter Malchut—the Crown of Torah, the Crown of Kehuna, and the Crown of Kingship. For the Crown of Torah, a person has to honor a Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar). We learn from the Pasuk (verse), “You should honor a Zaken.” We learn now that a Zaken is somebody who is a Torah scholar, which is a contraction of the word Zaken. You have to honor a Torah scholar.
With a Kohen (priest), the Pasuk tells us, “You should sanctify the Kohen. He’s offering the food of your God. So he should be holy to you.” Therefore, we honor the Kohen by giving him the first Aliyah (ascent to the Torah) by the Sefer Torah (Torah scroll), and by allowing him to do the Zimun (invitation to recite the blessing) by Birkat Hamazon. And then lastly, we have to honor the king. Som tasim alecha melech. You should place for yourself a king. We learn from here that you have to have fear of this king.
Of all these different crowns, the crown of kingship was given over to David HaMelech and his lineage forever. The crown of Kehuna was given to Aharon and his descendants forever. But the Keter Torah, the crown of Torah, wasn’t given over to anybody in specific. Rather, we say, “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morashah kehillat Yaakov.” Moshe commanded us the Torah, and it’s the inheritance of the whole Jewish people. Anybody has the ability to acquire Keter Torah if they put forth the proper efforts.
Keter Shem Tov oleh al gabayhem. The crown of a good name rises above all of them. We don’t count this as one of the three crowns because there’s no honor that goes with it. But the crown of a good name—a person who has a good reputation because of his ma’asim tovim, his good deeds—that type of crown is superior to everyone else. A person with a good name—there’s nothing like it. We say, tov shem mishemen tov. A good name is better than good oil. So, therefore, a person has to look at that person as being elevated. Even a Chacham, a Kohen, or a king forfeits their rights if they have a bad name, if they lose their respectability. So, therefore, this crown is really superior, and a person should do everything he can to acquire this crown as well: the Keter Shem Tov.