NUM18 This versus intimates that in the end nothing remains of all man's accomplishments, with the exception of the holy acts that he performed, personally, during his lifetime, such as: Tefillin, Tzitzith, and the other mitzvot. Every mitzvah he performs creates another defending angel and these will forever keep company with him. Not so the yetzer harah and all his physical powers which man cherishes most. They accompany him temporarily; when he is in distress, they depart from him. Furthermore they really detest man. They send and testify against him, seeking to forfeit his life. Even the members of his own family, who really love him, cannot stay with him forever. Each of them must return to his own home, after they have escorted him to the cemetery. He will not see them ever again, until the time of the revival of the dead. What does he retain? -- his holy acts. They accompany him; they are his true friends and counsel, defending him before the Lord of all things. This thought is conveyed by, "and every man's holy things shall be his" [this verse]. Hence man should acquire as many of these friends as he can, during his lifetime. He should be with them at all times, since they will stay with him forever. The verse ends: "Whatsoever any man gives to the Priest shall be his." This too teaches a moral lesson. Of all the money he exerts himself to accumulate in his lifetime, man will retain nothing in the end. The only sums he will continue to enjoy will be the amounts he distributed as charity and chesed. So has Chazal pointed out (Bava Bathra 11a): "My forbears laid up stores below; I have laid up stores above." This, then, is the meaning of the passage, "Whatsoever he gives to the Priest shall be his." The donation really belongs to the donor.