Musar su Levitico 24:2

And, the converse — If one speaks evil of his friend and demeans him things will come to such a pass that they will demean him, too, aside from his punishment in the world to come. And thus have I seen it written in the name of the early authorities, and they have found an intimation [in Scripture] for this (viz. Vayikra 24:20): "As he imputes a blemish to a man, so shall it be imputed to him." And, more than this, he comes to be despised and reviled even in the eyes of those to whom he spoke the lashon hara and the rechiluth. As Chazal have said: "False witnesses are despised [even] by their hirers." Also, each one of the listeners suspects him, saying to himself; "Now he spoke against my friends before me; and now he will go and speak before my friends against me."

The Levites' cities absorbed those forced to go into exile because of their having committed involuntary manslaughter. When disaster struck the nation, the Levites too were sent into exile as we know from Psalm 137,3 which tells of the Levites being asked to sing the songs they used to sing in Zion. They responded by refusing, claiming they could not possibly do so on foreign soil. Our sages (Midrash Tehillim 137,5) say that they amputated the tops of their fingers so as to be unable to play their instruments. Israel without a rebuilt Temple is compared to כאדם עברו ברית, "just as Adam who had violated the covenant with G–d," in the words of Hoseah 6,7. Midrash Eichah Rabbah elaborates on this, Rabbi Abahu saying that G–d describes how he had placed Adam into Gan Eden, commanded him a single commandment, which he transgressed. G–d consequently punished him with expulsion and personally elegized him with the word איכ-ה, Ayekkoh, (Genesis 3,9), which can be read as Eychah, an expression of mourning as in Lamentations, and also as used by Moses in Deut. 1,12 in the same sense, until He was able to bring the Jewish people into the Holy Land. Jeremiah 2,7 describes this in the words ואביא אתכם אל ארץ הכרמל לאכול את פריה. "I have brought you to the land of the Carmel to eat its fruit." Proof that G–d commanded Israel to observe commandments in the Holy Land is derived from Numbers 34,2: "Command the children of Israel, say to them…when you enter the land of Canaan, etc." Israel transgressed these commandments as described in Daniel 9, 9-11. Daniel includes the whole people as having violated G–d's teachings, as a result of which the curses in the Torah were poured out over them. Our exile, too, was a result of such conduct as is stated in Hoseah 9,9: "I will expel them from My House." The expulsion was not only to a country adjoining their homeland, but also to far off places as is indicated by Jeremiah 15,1: שלח מעל פני ויצאו, "Dismiss them from My Presence; let them go forth!" In His elegy, G–d refers to the lonely and isolated situation Zion finds itself in as a result; cf. Lamentations 1,1. Thus the introduction of Midrash Eicha.

G–d hinted to Moses that He would select the Levites at a future date in order that they could prepare themselves spiritually for that task and become purified. It is also in line with what our sages have said, that if a person takes some steps to sanctify himself while here on earth, then much more sanctity is added to him from the Heavenly Regions (Yuma 39). The Levites needed this preparation even though they had been predestined for their task from the day they had been born, as we know from the statement of Jacob when he forbade Levi to be among his pallbearers (compare Rashi on Genesis 50,13). If nonetheless they needed to prepare themselves for their task, this shows how much a person always has to sanctify himself in order that sanctity should be added for him from Heaven.