The Unique Spirituality of Women and Children Chapter 4:
Taf (Children) - Drops and Prophecy

The word for children found in this verse, taf, is a unique word. It means "drop." The simple meaning is that the infant is a small "drop," reminiscent of the original drop from which he is created. The infant, who neither learns nor hears is connected to the Torah in a way totally above his parents. It only becomes manifest in the taste, or drop, that he gives to them.

The source of the word for infant, taf, is one of the words that is used for "prophecy," hatafah. This means "to bring something down, drop by drop." Prophecy, or Divine Spirit, seeps down, drop by drop, from a source which is infinitely super-rational. The simple meaning of taf is that he himself is a drop. The deeper meaning is that he is the source of the mazal elyon ("the higher mazal," the source of all Jewish souls, as explained in Kabbalah and Chassidut). The word mazal also comes from nozel, which means "flowing down." For the Jewish People, the taf is the source of all seeping down of Divine Spirit, drop by drop, hatafat ruach hakodesh tipin tipin. This "seeping down" of the taf passes first through the consciousness of the mother, the woman, and then finally reaches the father, the man. The reward that the infant brings the parents is something that seeps down from the level where the infant is connected to G-d into the consciousness of his parents.