The crown of Torah belongs to all

במדרש לולי תורתך שעשועי כו' אבדתי בעניי כשאמר הקב"ה למשה הקרב אליך כו' אהרן הרע לו.

In the Midrash: "Had Your Torah not been my delight… I would have perished in my affliction" (Tehillim 119:92) — when the Holy One said to Moshe, "Bring near to yourself… Aharon," it grieved him.

The Midrash applies the verse to Moshe: when Hashem assigned the kehunah to Aharon rather than to him, it pained Moshe deeply.

א"ל תורה היתה לי ונתתי' לך שאלולי היא הייתי מאבד עולמי כו'.

Hashem said to him: I had a Torah, and I gave it to you; for had it not been so, I would have lost My world, etc.

Hashem consoles Moshe: the Torah, which sustains the entire world, was given precisely to you — a gift greater than the priesthood.

פי' הגם כי הי' משה רבינו גדול מאהרן.

The explanation: even though Moshe Rabbeinu was greater than Aharon,

Although Moshe stood on a higher level than Aharon,

מ"מ הכהונה ניתנה לאהרן שהוא נבדל מן העם כמ"ש ויבדל אהרן כו'.

nevertheless the kehunah (priesthood) was given to Aharon, who is set apart from the people, as it says, "and Aharon was set apart," etc. (Divrei HaYamim I 23:13).

The priesthood went to Aharon because a kohen must be "set apart," separated and elevated above the rest of the nation.

אבל מרע"ה שהוא שר התורה צריך להיות דבוק בכלל ישראל.

But Moshe Rabbeinu, who is the "prince of the Torah," needs to be bound up with klal Yisrael.

Moshe, as the bearer of Torah, could not be set apart; on the contrary, he had to remain attached to the whole community.

ולכן לא הוריש מרע"ה כתרו לבניו.

That is why Moshe Rabbeinu did not bequeath his crown to his sons.

Unlike the priesthood, which passes from father to son, Moshe's crown of Torah was not inherited by his children.

רק מורשה קהלת יעקב.

Rather, it is "the inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4).

The Torah is the inheritance of the entire assembly of Yaakov, belonging to all of Bnei Yisrael and not to one family.

ואילו הי' גם מרע"ה נבדל.

And had Moshe Rabbeinu too been "set apart,"

Had Moshe been separated from the people the way a kohen is,

לא הי' ח"ו לנו תקומה.

we would have had, God forbid, no enduring foothold.

Then Bnei Yisrael would have had no lasting connection to Torah and no means of standing firm.

אך זה כח התורה דכתיב בה יקרה מפנינים.

But this is the power of the Torah, of which it is written, "she is more precious than pearls (peninim)" (Mishlei 3:15).

The unique strength of Torah is expressed in its being "more precious than peninim."

ממי שנכנס לפני ולפנים.

"More precious than the one who enters lifnai ve-lifnim (the innermost chamber)."

Chazal read "peninim" as the Kohen Gadol who enters the Holy of Holies: Torah is more precious even than that lofty service — its strength is that it belongs to everyone, not only to the one set apart within.

שהיא מעמדת ומקיימת כל העולם.

For it sustains and upholds the entire world.

Torah is the force that keeps all of Creation standing.

ובזה ניחם הקב"ה למשה כי א"א לו להתפרש מכלל ישראל.

And with this the Holy One consoled Moshe — that it is impossible for him to be separated from klal Yisrael.

The comfort to Moshe was precisely that he could never be cut off from the people, because Torah binds him to all of them.

ולפי שמסר משה רע"ה נפשו על כלל ישראל שילם לו הקב"ה להיות כחו נשאר בכלל ישראל.

And because Moshe Rabbeinu gave over his life (mesirus nefesh) for klal Yisrael, the Holy One repaid him by having his power remain within klal Yisrael.

As a reward for his self-sacrifice on behalf of the nation, Moshe's spiritual power endures within Bnei Yisrael forever.

וכמעט כל איש ישראל יש בו הארה וניצוץ ממרע"ה.

And almost every Yid has within him a radiance and a spark (nitzotz) of Moshe Rabbeinu.

A spark of Moshe's soul is embedded in nearly every member of Bnei Yisrael — his power lives on in the people.

ולכן לא ניתן לו הכהונה.

And therefore the kehunah was not given to him.

Precisely because Moshe's role was to be woven into the whole nation, the priesthood — which requires separation — was not his.

כי הכהן צריך להיות נבדל.

For the kohen must be set apart.

The priesthood demands a status of separation, the opposite of Moshe's bond with the people.

וכן אמרו חז"ל כתר כהונה זכה אהרן ונטלו.

And so Chazal said: the crown of kehunah — Aharon merited it and took it.

The crown of priesthood was won by Aharon and remained with his line.

כתר מלכות זכה דוד.

The crown of malchus (kingship) — David merited it.

The crown of kingship was given to David and his dynasty.

אבל כתר תורה מונח לכל איש ישראל:

But the crown of Torah lies waiting for every Yid.

Unlike the crowns of priesthood and kingship, which belong to specific people, the crown of Torah is available to every single Jew who reaches for it.

Summary: When the priesthood was given to Aharon rather than to Moshe, Hashem consoled Moshe by reminding him that the Torah — more precious even than the Kohen Gadol's entry into the Holy of Holies, and the force that sustains the whole world — was given to him. A kohen must be "set apart," but Moshe, as bearer of Torah, had to remain bound to all of klal Yisrael; that is why his crown was not inherited by his sons but became "the inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov." As a reward for his mesirus nefesh, Moshe's power lives on as a spark in nearly every Jew, for the crowns of priesthood and kingship belong to particular people, but the crown of Torah lies waiting for every Yid.