Every offering of all the holy things of the children of
Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. And
every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man
giveth to the priest, it shall be his.

In the same way we are told by Viscount Amberley that the priests of
Ceylon first present the gifts to the god, and then eat them. Among
the Parsees, when a man dies, the relatives must bring four new robes
to the priests; if they do this, the priests wear the robes; if they
fail to do it, the dead man appears naked before the judgment-throne.
The devotees are instructed that "he who performs this rite succeeds
in both worlds, and obtains a firm footing in both worlds." Among the
Buddhists, the followers give alms to the monks, and are told
specifically what advantages will thereby accrue to them. In the
Aitareyo Brahmanam of the Rig-Veda we read

He who, knowing this, sacrifices according to this rite, is
born from the womb of Agni and the offerings, participates
in the nature of the Rik, Yajus, and Saman, the Veda (sacred
knowledge), the Brahma (sacred element) and immortality, and
is absorbed into the deity.

Among the Parsees the priest eats the bread and drinks the haoma, or
juice of a plant, considered to be both a plant and a god. Among the
Episcopalians, a contemporary Christian sect, the sacred juice is that
of the grape, and the priest is not allowed to throw away what is left
of it, but is ordered "reverently to consume it." In as much as the
priest is the sole judge of how much good sherry wine he shall
consecrate previous to the ceremony, it is to be expected that the