Musar su Daniele 5:1

The food which man consumes is first and foremost based on grain, דגן, the "king" of all plants. This is the reason that G–d commanded to set aside part of the grain harvest for special sanctification as a תרומה, gift, contribution. Since G–d did not consider this sanctification of food as adequate, He also imbued the tithes to be given to the Levites with a degree of special holiness. The Levite, in turn, gives some of what has been allocated to him to the priest, i.e. the תרומת מעשר; once the Levite has done so he has joined the ranks of the 1-10-100, or 2-20-200 described in שערי אורה in connection with the reason for the need to recite 100 benedictions daily. (Compare what we have written in connection with the blessing Isaac experienced, page 160) We have outlined there also how the relationship between the ordinary Israelite, the Levite and the priest parallel the relationship between 1, 10, 100 respectively. We explained the relationship as akin to the relationship between the three levels of man's soul, נפש-רוח-נשמה. The Israelite gives 10 out of 100 to the Levite; the Levite in turn gives to the priest 10 out of his share, i.e. 1/100th of the original quantity. Once the raw grain has been transformed into something of spiritual significance, the dough, it is elevated further by the setting aside of חלה. Next this dough is converted into bread which has by now been thoroughly sanctified. Bread is so important that our sages (and frequently the Torah itself) automatically referred to every meal as "bread". People are described as being invited to eat "bread," when in fact the invitation extends to a comprehensive meal.