Hora’ah – הוראה – Teaching
The Tanya describes the teachings of a sage, and the transmission and reception of these idea, in terms of ‘ingesting’ them, using terms such as ‘flesh, blood and inward parts,’ to describe the life-benefiting nourishment one receives. The teacher and student become intimately connected in this manner.
“Since through the knowledge of Torah the Torah is absorbed in the soul and intellect of the person and is encompassed within them, it is therefore called the “bread” and “food” of the soul. Just as physical bread nourishes the body when it is ingested and absorbed within it, and [when] it is transformed there into blood and flesh of one’s own flesh, and only then will the body live and be sustained; similarly, through the knowledge and comprehension of Torah by the soul of a person who studies it well, with the concentration of his intellect,to the point where the Torah is grasped by his mind and is joined with him so that they become one, [the Torah thereby] becomes food for the soul. It becomes inner life for it, from the Fountainhead of life, the blessed Ein Sof, Who is clothed in His wisdom and Torah that are in [the soul] of the Torah student. This is the meaning of the verse, “Your Torah is in my inner parts,” It is similarly written in Etz Chayim (Portal 44, ch. 3) that mitzvot are the “garments” of the souls in Paradise. Torah on the other hand is the food of the souls in Paradise which had engaged in Torah study for its own sake during their life on this earth. It is similarly written in the Zohar.”
Tanya, Chapter 5
“In other words, what we now know as eating will be transformed to its original state akin to the level of higher-dimensional eating at the time of the time of the eating of the Tree of Knowledge. This, in fact, is the other meaning of Daat/Knowledge, to deeply and intimately ‘know’ something, is to ‘eat it.’ For this reason the Torah teaches that when Adam and Eve “ate’ from the higher-dimensional fruit, they then ‘knew.’ This is why it is called the ‘fruit’ of the Tree of Knowledge.'”
The Secret Doctrine of the Gaon of Vilna, Volume II, Rabbi Joel Bakst, p. 109.
“Bread and wine are the essence of the meal, all the rest being subsidiary. The Torah is begging of you, saying: Come, eat ye of my bread and drink of the wine I have mingled (Proverbs 9:5). Since the Torah calls you, you must obey her behest.”
Zohar 3:189b
NEW TESTAMENT
“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”
John 6:54-56