When a man sells a residential house inside a walled
city, its redemption may take place until the end of the
year of its sale. Its redemption is a full year.
Leviticus 25:29
The three fundamental human needs are food, clothing, and shelter. Food nourishes us from within, while clothing and shelter protect us from without.
Allegorically, spiritual food is the study of G-d’s Torah, which nourishes our soul.
Clothing and shelter are the performance of G-d’s commandments, which create spiritual “force fields” that protect us from the encroachment of materiality and other harmful spiritual influences.
Just as our physical clothing fits us closely, most commandments
are closely “tailored” to us, serving as ways for us to express our unique spiritual personalities. In contrast, just as our homes do not fit us closely, there are some commandments that express parts of our soul of which we are not normally conscious. For example, we can only fulfill the commandment to leave forgotten sheaves for the poor if we forget some sheaves in the field; we cannot plan to fulfill this commandment.
Thus, when the opportunity to fulfill some commandment or do some good deed comes our way unexpectedly, we should treat it as a Divine gift, a fleeting glimpse into the inner goodness of our soul.
--Daily Wisdom Volume 3