ספר שמות

Another way of understanding the verse: ‎ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת ‏כהנים‎. We have a tradition according to which there are three ‎‎“crowns” that can be worn by select people. (Avot 4,17) ‎They are: 1) the crown of the Torah; 2) the crown of the ‎priesthood. 3) the crown of kingship. The only one of these ‎‎“crowns” that can be handed down through inheritance from ‎father to son is the crown of the priesthood. In our verse the ‎concept of holiness through inheritance is expanded to include ‎the entire Jewish people as a whole. G’d assures Moses that as a ‎result of our performing His commandments we have all acquired ‎a hereditary claim to holiness. In Moses’ parting speech to his ‎people, Deuteronomy 32,9, he expands on this theme by saying: ‎כי חלק ה' עמו עקב חבל נחלתו‎, “for the Lord’s portion is His people, ‎Yaakov His own inheritance.” Moses implies that G’d has chosen ‎the Jewish people on account of the holiness transmitted to them ‎by their patriarchs which had become part of their genes. This is ‎the deeper meaning of the expression ‎ממלכת כהנים‎.‎