Musar על ראש השנה 31:20

Keeping this in mind, we can understand a peculiarity in 18,6. There the Torah writes: "When the Levite who lives in one of your gates (towns) comes to the place G–d has chosen, he may do so whenever he pleases. He may serve in the name of his G–d like all his fellow-Levites who are in attendance there." The obvious question here is why, in describing the function of the priest, the Torah in this paragraph merely calls him: "the Levite," while in the preceding paragraph (18,3-5), it calls him by his rightful title? The appointment of the priest as a כהן, originated in the emanation חסד, as opposed to the appointment of the Levite as a tribe with special functions, which originated in the emanation גבורה. Because the priest is on a more elevated level than the mere Levite, his conduct is measured by a more exacting yardstick. The Torah alludes to this in verse 6 where the priest is reminded that he is basically judged as a Levite, i.e. by the standards of the emanation גבורה, otherwise known as מדת הדין, the attribute of Justice. The allegorical meaning of the words חלק כחלק יאכלון in 18,8 is that on the holidays, when all of the priests are allowed to eat a share of the sacrifices being offered, they all share the same standards. We know that the world is judged (Rosh Hashanah 16a) on the three festivals Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles in addition to New Year's when people's lives are in the balance. On Passover the size and quality of the forthcoming grain harvest is decided upon in Heaven; G–d decides on the size and quality of the yield of fruit-bearing trees on the Festival of Weeks, and on the water supply during the rainy season on the Festival of Tabernacles. These decisions are made by the attribute of Justice. The priests are to remind themselves of the activities of the attribute of Justice when they partake of the offerings on these festivals.

The fifth way in which repentance can be aroused is when the Ten Days of Repentance draw near, then every man should arouse his heart and tremble as he goes to meet the Day of Judgment, for he should ponder that all of his deeds are written in a book, and that at this time God will bring to judgment every deed and every hidden thing, whether it be good or bad. For a man is judged on Rosh Hashanah, and his decree is sealed on the Day of Atonement (Rosh Hashana 16a). Now, if a man were to be brought for judgment before a king of flesh and blood would he not tremble with a great trembling, and would he not take counsel with his soul? And it would not occur to him to do any other thing, than to find some merit that might save him from that judgment. Therefore, how foolish and stupid are those who do not know what their judgment will be, and yet they occupy themselves with idle things other than the repentance that would find favor before the Great Judge!