Now we can understand these pessukim. The Torah says קֹּדֶּש יֹּאכַל לֹּא זָר וְכׇּל - No stranger shall eat of the holy thing. Besides the simple meaning, where the Torah forbids a non-cohen from eating the holy meat of korbanos, there is a deeper meaning. This refers to the spiritual influences and emanations from the עולם האצילות that all creations receive.
תוֹשַב כֹּהֵן וְשָכִּיר לֹּא יֹּאכַל קֹּדֶּש - a foreigner living with the priests or a hired servant shall not eat of the holy thing. The תוֹשַב and שָ כִיר referred to here are the Ruach and the Nefesh. The hired servant of the person performs all of the activities necessary for a person’s life. This is the Nefesh, which provides life for a person’s body. The Nefesh is simply called the hired servant. The תוֹשַב, which alludes to the Ruach is called the תוֹשַב כֹּהֵן - the one who lives with a cohen. The cohen is the Neshama, and the Ruach is the resting place of the Neshama, as its level is directly above it.
These two levels may not eat from the holiness of the עולם האצילות, which the possuk calls קודש. They have not sufficiently purified themselves.
However, וְכֹּהֵן כִּי יִּקְנֶּה נֶּפֶּש קִּנְיַן כַסְפוֹ – if a cohen, purchases a slave with his money, he shall eat of it. If the Neshama of a person shall acquire a soul (the Ohr Hachaim explains that the Torah uses a masculine language for this acquisition because this applies to the highest level of the Neshama, that can be considered masculine, i.e., in full control). Through its many good deeds, it has acquired a Nefesh – the Nefesh has risen to the level of a cohen, the level of a Neshama. הוּא יֹּאכַל בוֹ – he may partake of it. When a person has elevated himself all the way to his Neshama, he may derive benefit and sustenance from the holiness emanating from the עולם האצילות. Prior to his elevation, he was forbidden to derive any benefit from it.
Another person who is permitted to eat and nourish themselves from this holiness is וִּילִּיד בֵיתוֹ הֵם יֹּאכְלוּ בְלַחְמוֹ – those that were born in his house, they may eat of his bread. This is talking about holy Neshamos. These Neshamos have arrived in this generation from early generations, and were born to a righteous person who conceived them in purity, removing the holiest of sparks from their essence to create a soul for their child. They have reached the highest of levels with little work, and they may eat from the holiness of the עולם האצילות.
The Torah continues with the daughter of a cohen who married someone who was not a cohen. This is alluding to a Neshama that has sinned. Even though it is on a high spiritual level, it now loses that level and may not eat holiness any more. It has attached itself to a strange man, which is the force of evil that is desperate to ensnare the righteous. She may not eat anything holy, even תְרוּמַת הַקֳּדָשִּים – that which is removed from the holiness, which is 1/50th. By performing this aveira, the light has been dimmed, and he can no longer eat holiness.
But if the one to sin is on a higher level, that of a חיה, or נשמה לנשמה, shall sin, the situation is different. Hashem protects this person from any mistake or aveira. However, if he chooses to do an aveira, he will be disconnected from this protection. He is an אַלְמָנָה וּגְרוּשָה וְזֶּרַע אֵין לָהּ. He has no protection from Hashem, like a widow who no longer has a husband to protect and sustain her. He is a זֶּרַע אֵין לָהּ, his Mitzvos are no longer associated with him.
He can return to his father’s house, i.e., he can eat the bread of shame. But he will no longer receive that which he deserves due to his deeds.
