You know that dream, where you’re being chased by Something Bad, and running for your life, and then just as you encounter a dead end or it’s about to overtake you, you wake up in a fright?
Well, there’s kind of a Biblical paradigm for this experience: When the Jews escaped from Egypt, the Egyptians began to chase after them. They probably would have caught them, but G-d performed one of the grandest miracles of all time and split the…. Red Sea? Read Sea? Sea of Reeds? There’s a bunch of academic debate about the etymology of both the English and Hebrew names of this sea. In Hebrew, the Torah calls it the Yam Suf, and the Jews were able to walk through it on dry land, finally ending their enslavement and beginning their journey to freedom and nationhood.
But what is this Yam Suf- what does it mean?
Rashi says that the word Suf means reeds, referring to the flora that grow within it, from the ground up. He quotes another verse where Moshe’s mother fearing that baby Moshe will be killed, wraps him in a basket and places him in the suf, then his sister watches to see what will happen.
The letters of this Hebrew word have other meanings, and there’s a lot of linguistic significance to root words in Biblical Hebrew, so let’s see where this takes us.
Later, at the Exodus, Moshe tells the Jews:
“Stand and see the salvation of G-d for you today. For as you see Egypt here today, you will not continue to see them anymore, forever.”
The phrase in this verse used for “you will not continue” is lo tosifu, which has that same root of suf.
So, so far, it means: reeds, and continue.
Earlier, in Genesis, there's a shocking incident where Yehuda accuses his daughter-in-law Tamar of harlotry, only to realize that he was the father of the baby she was carrying (it’s a long, complicated story; see Genesis 38 and a lot of commentary for more details). When Yehuda realizes what he had done, he confesses his guilt, and then it says: “He did not ‘yasaf’ more to ‘know’ her (carnally).”
Rashi comments there that that this word “yasaf” again the same root, has two meanings:
“Some say it means he didn’t continue to be intimate with her, and some say it means he didn’t stop; ie they got married.”
So now, this word “saf” means either end or continuation?
But these words are almost exact opposites- it’s confusing.
Don’t worry- it gets worse. (But we’ll clear it up at the end:)
Rashi there quotes a similar instance where there are two prophets Eldad and Medad, and after their cameo appearance in the Torah, it says that they didn’t "yasfu" to prophesize. There too, the word is explained as either "they didn’t stop or they didn’t continue" both interpretations.
But wait- there’s more.
When the Jews were preparing the Paschal lamb, they’re commanded to smear blood on the four parts of the doorway: the top (fancy word for that: lintel), the sides, (called the mezuzot), and the bottom- the threshold, which in Hebrew is called the… Saf! They were then told not to leave the doorway until morning.
There’s that root again- so to review, we now have four definitions:
reeds, end, continuation, and threshold.
Are you still with me? If you are, I'm impressed.
There are a couple more pieces, then we tie it together, so hang it there!
There’s a Mechilta which teaches that G-d said in the merit of Yosef, He split the sea.
What does Yosef have to do with the Yam Suf, you might ask? (Good question!)
Let’s look at how he got his name, spoiler: it has that root.
“And she [Rachel] became pregnant, she birthed a son, and said: 'G-d has gathered up [assaf] my humiliation,'” and then also added a request: “may G-d add [yosef] for me another son.”
The etymology of Yosef’s name is based on the sentiments that:
It was the end of his mother’s shame for not having a son to become a tribe
It was a plea to continue growing her legacy with another child
Are you starting to get the idea?
Let’s put it all together:
The Yam Suf at first glance, seemed like it was about to be the end of the Jewish people, as they were being chased by the Egyptians, but then, due to their faith and G-d’s love, it in fact, became a miraculous continuation of their destiny instead. The very sea that could have trapped them for their enemies ended up defeating their enemies instead. It was the end of their bondage, and the beginning of their freedom.
Instead of a sof, end, it was a hosafa, a continuation.
This duality of end and continuation is further symbolized by the word saf: threshold.
What is a threshold?
It’s a line marking where one room ends, but the space continues into another room.
The Yam Suf was the threshold where one version of the Jewish people ended but another began, including the tension around this transformation.
The Yam Suf was part of the body of water in the East Nile, in which Moshe was placed as a baby, among the reeds, the suf. It could have been his end- he could have been killed or drowned, per Pharoah’s decree, but again, instead of it being his Sof, it was his hosafa, his continuation toward a life of great leadership.
In fact, Pharoah’s astrologers had foreseen that the savior of Israel would end up in the water, but Miriam had prophesied that he would prevail. Initially her father rejoiced at her prediction but when they had to put him in the Nile, he asked her:
“But what about your prophecy?”
This is why she stood at the bank of the water to watch what would happen to him, in the words of the Talmud: “what would be the sof, end of her prophecy?” meaning would it be a sof or a hosafa, a continuation? Already then, she had faith in G-d’s willingness to deliver salvation through the sea.
The Rabbis teach that besides for the sea splitting in Yosef’s merit, Moshe was responsible for bringing the bones of Yosef through the sea too. Another connection between these two men and the sea.
Yosef was born into and named with this dual energy: ending his mother’s shame (sof), and continuing her legacy with another child (hosafa). His entire early life was a series of almost endings that became thresholds to a greater destiny:
His brothers almost killing him, then being saved.
Being sold into slavery, but then treated well.
Falsely accused of sexual assault and incarcerated, and then becoming the viceroy, able to save the entire region from famine.
He then gave his brothers a taste of the same suspense: almost punished as criminals and losing Binyamin, and then revealing his identity, reuniting his family, and relocating them to Goshen.
There’s also an approach among the commentaries that Yosef was both a “father and a son.” Meaning: Although he was technically a son of Yaakov, and not counted as one of the forefathers, he was a father of two of the 12 tribes: Efraim and Menashe. His life story linked the book of Genesis to the book of Exodus. He was called “av u’ben” a father an a son, since he had features of both. He was a connector; a threshold. A saf. He symbolized that one could be sent into an exile like Egypt, suffer greatly, and not let it become a sof, a dead end, but a hosafa, a continuation of a great story.
[The Talmud says there are certain challenges that are described as “as difficult as splitting the sea”- things like finding a spouse and making a living. These are blessings we work and pray for, that when they don’t happen when we want them too, can feel like a dead end, and it’s so hard. But just as it’s not difficult for G-d to perform miracles like splitting the sea, He can easily provide what we need when He deems it the right time.]
When Yaakov saw Yosef in Egypt after decades believing him dead, and realized that not only was he alive, but he even had righteous children, Yaakov proclaimed:
“I never imagined or even prayed that I would see your face again, and now G-d is showing me your children!”
We recite the Az Yashir song every day as part of tefila, to remind us of the message of the Yam Suf. That in this world, things are often not what they appear; sometimes they’re even the opposite. Sof davar hakol nishma. This is the power of the Yam Suf, of Yosef, of Moshe- the baby in the Suf who later split the Yam Suf with the merit and atzmos, the essence of Yosef, the capacity to see and turn what looks like a sof, an end, into a saf, a threshold, leading us to a hosafa, continuity toward salvation and potential greatness.
It’s the story of the Jewish people, then, since, and now.
Please G-d, let this war be the threshold that leads us to an end of suffering and our final salvation.
If you'd like more content like this delivered to your inbox, please join us here: elishevaliss.com/newsletter
Comments