RYY castigated the misnagdic Torah establishment, with which he was formerly associated, pridefully absorbed in its intellectual sophistry, rather than taking compassionate inspiring care of their flock, the down-trodden Jewish masses. This passage brings praise to Aharon, because he did not don the priestly robes for his own aggrandizement, but only to fulfill the command of the King.
Men always wish to make of the Torah a crown, to boast and aggrandize themselves thru it.
If he studies the Codes, he becomes exceedingly great in his own sight and removes himself from God. But, in the course of years, the hearts of our leaders have shrunk so that they no longer understand these words. They only make of the Torah a crown with which to be exalted and glorified. They have never seen light, and the light of Torah has never shined upon them. In response, the Vilna Rabbinical Court in 1772 ruled that the chassidic prayer house be closed and that R. Chayim ask forgiveness in Vilna's principal synagogues and before the Gra.