Musar su Deuteronomio 33:10

[And, in truth, just as we find that the Holy One Blessed be He sanctified the tribe of Levi and exhorted Israel not to forsake it, as it is written (Devarim 16:19): "Take heed unto yourself lest you forsake the Levite all of your days upon your land," so, it is, likewise, the will of the Blessed L-rd that we support men who separate themselves from the affairs of the world in order to serve the L-rd. For this is certainly not inferior to supporting the Levite in this regard. As Rambam writes (Hilchoth Shemitah Veyovel, Chapter 13 Halachah 12 and 13): "Why did the Levite not merit inheritance in Eretz Yisrael and in its spoils with his brothers? For he was singled out to serve the L-rd, to minister unto Him and to teach His just ways and righteous judgments to the people, as it is written (Devarim 33:10): 'They shall teach Your judgments to Jacob and Your Torah to Israel.' Therefore, they were separated from the ways of the world. They do not wage war, as do the rest of Israel, they do not inherit, and they do not merit things for themselves with the strength of their bodies, but they are "the army of the L-rd," as it is written (Ibid. 11): 'The L-rd bless his [Levi's] strength.' And the Holy One Blessed be He bequeaths [things] on them, as it is written (Numbers 18:20): 'I am your [Levi's] portion and your inheritance.' And [this applies] not only to the tribe of Levi alone, but to every man of all those who enter the world, whose spirit moves him, and who understands of himself to be separate, to stand before the L-rd, to minister unto Him and to serve Him, to know the L-rd and to walk justly, as G-d made him. And he divests himself of the many "accountings" that men seek, he is sanctified as "holy of holies," and the L-rd becomes his portion and his inheritance for ever and ever. And He bequeaths to him in this world what suffices him, as He did to the Cohanim and the Levites. As David, may peace be upon him said (Psalms 16:5): 'The L-rd is the portion of my inheritance.'" Until here, his (Rambam's) beautiful language.]

The pillar of תורה is dealt with in the legislation denying the tribe of Levi a share in the land to be distributed amongst the other tribes. It is their task to study Torah and to teach it, as we know from Deut. 33,10:יורו משפטיך ליעקב ותורתך לישראל, “They shall teach Your laws to Jacob and Your instructions to Israel.” If the Torah had allocated them farmland and orchards they would be so busy tending their land that they would not be able to fulfil their spiritual tasks. This is why the Torah instructs the Israelite to give certain gifts to the Levites so that they should be free of the burden of earning a livelihood and shoulder the burden of Torah study, etc., instead. Once the priests had increased in number their service in the Temple was restricted to a few days a year for each shift. On the festivals however, when they were in Jerusalem anyways, they could then receive a share of the meat of the many offerings presented on the altar. They made their regular living from the portions of meat set aside for them from animals slaughtered for private consumption as well as from the firstborn male animals, the first shearings, the Terumah (approx. 2% of the farmer's grain, oil and grape harvest). The Levite also contributed to the priest 10% of the tithes received.

The reason that the Midrash quoted the verse from Proverbs 3,15, was to substantiate the value that we accord to a natural firstborn. It interprets the word "פנינים," as derived from "פנים," front, or face. The question arises why is it not spelled פנים then? Why do we need the letter "נ" twice in that word? Another question is how do we prove that Gershon had not lost his rank as a firstborn? After all, the fact remains that the Torah gave precedence to Kehat counting him first! This question is answered by the Midrash quoting this verse which had the double "נ" in the word פנים. It is just like saying that in this case two families both ranked as panim, first. We must remember that G–d's original plan was that the Torah should be given to Adam, and this was the whole reason why he had been created. We have explained all this when we discussed the verse in Genesis 1,26, "נעשה אדם" Adam had been the "firstborn" of all mankind, since he was the first human being ever. We also have Israel being called "אדם." This in turn means that Israel is called "firstborn" as we know from Exodus 4,22: "My firstborn son Israel." Here, however, the rank of the Levites as firstborn outranks that of Israel as a whole, since the Levites represent the רוח אדם, whereas the remainder of the tribes of Israel only represent the נפש אדם. We have discussed this concept previously. To make certain that we appreciate this point, the Torah writes concerning the tribe of Levi in Deut. 33,10: יורו משפטיך ליעקב ותורתך לישראל, "They will teach Your laws to Jacob, and Your instructions to Israel." This refers to the revealed Torah, the תורת האדם, the practical Torah, the commandments that either have to be fulfilled, or the transgressions that have to be avoided. However, the spiritual Torah is the true "firstborn," having been created two thousand years before the universe; it is the Torah alluded to on the tablets that the Kehatites were carrying in the Holy Ark. The tablets after all, were מעשה אלוקים המה, "were the handiwork of the Almighty," (Exodus 32,16) just like the "spiritual Torah" which had preceded the written Torah. This Torah then must be viewed as the real בכור, "firstborn." It preceded the Torah that was given to אדם to perform. The Kehatites were mentioned first because they carried the Holy Ark containing the tablets, i.e. the spiritual essence of the Torah. From that aspect the Kehatites deserved to be considered as the בכור. It now is clear why they were counted first. We view Gershon as the "firstborn" in matters that have to be performed in this material world, and Kehat as the "firstborn" in matters that are exclusively the domain of the spiritual world. The very concept of the distinction of being the firstborn is enhanced by our understanding these nuances in the way the Torah is written.