Geshem Zal'afot: The Story Behind the Storm

In the rainy season, we encounter a variety of Hebrew nicknames for the showers that visit our land. One of them is גשם זלעפות. Well – what are "זלעפות"?

The singular form זַלְעָפָה and the plural forms זַלְעָפוֹת or זִלְעָפוֹת appear in the Bible, each once, and all three not in the context of rain. The closest to the matter is the one in Psalms 11:6: "יַמְטֵר עַל רְשָׁעִים פַּחִים אֵשׁ וְגׇפְרִית, וְרוּחַ זִלְעָפוֹת מְנָת כּוֹסָם" (Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a רוח זלעפות shall be the portion of their cup).

Rashi explained the phrase "רוח זלעפות" based on the verse in the Book of Lamentations: "עוֹרֵנוּ כְּתַנּוּר נִכְמָרוּ, מִפְּנֵי זַלְעֲפוֹת רָעָב" (Our skin was black like an oven because of the זַלְעֲפוֹת of famine) (5:10). From the context, he learns that the word "זלעפות" is related to burning and dryness (and the meaning of the verse: 'our skin heated up and dried out because of the fever of hunger'), and if so, "רוּחַ זִלְעָפוֹת" at the end of the verse in Psalms is likely close in meaning to "אֵשׁ וְגׇפְרִית" at the beginning. Ben-Yehuda also went in this direction in his dictionary and explained 'זלעפה' – "intense heat," and in our context, a kind of hot and dry wind.

On the other hand, there are biblical commentators who were aided by the verse from Psalms 119:53: "זַלְעָפָה אֲחָזַתְנִי מֵרְשָׁעִים עֹזְבֵי תּוֹרָתֶךָ" (Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law). From the verb "אחזתני" (took hold of me), one can infer that it refers to a kind of shaken state – 'trembling', 'horror' – similar to other verses where the verb 'אחז' appears alongside a word describing a difficult state of mind: "שָׁמְעוּ עַמִּים יִרְגָּזוּן, חִיל אָחַז יֹשְׁבֵי פְּלָשֶׁת. אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם, אֵילֵי מוֹאָב יֹאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד, נָמֹגוּ כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי כְנָעַן" (Exodus 15:14–15), "פָּחֲדוּ בְצִיּוֹן חַטָּאִים, אָחֲזָה רְעָדָה חֲנֵפִים" (Isaiah 33:14), "רְעָדָה אֲחָזָתַם שָׁם, חִיל כַּיּוֹלֵדָה" (Psalms 48:7). Even in the Aramaic translation of the verse, 'זלעפות' is "רְתִיתָא", meaning 'trembling', 'shivering', 'shock'. From this, it seems that רוח זלעפות is a storm wind. Words from the root סע"ר indeed appear in the Bible usually in the context of weather, but also metaphorically, to express emotion: "וַיִּסָּעֵר לֵב מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם עַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה" (2 Kings 6:11).

The word 'זלעפה' is also linked with a storm in the ancient work of Ben Sira. In one of the versions, it is found: "זלעפות צפון סופה וסערה" (43:17). "זלעפות" appears alongside "סופה וסערה", and it seems that it is close to them in meaning. This direction is strengthened by another version of the same verse in Ben Sira: "עַלעוֹל סופה וסערה". The word 'עַלעוֹל' is known from Aramaic dialects and Rabbinic literature in the sense of 'strong wind', for example "'כסופות בנגב לחלוף' – said Rabbi Levi, you have no עלעול harder than this עלעול that comes from the north..." (Song of Songs Rabbah 3:4). It is no wonder, then, that the parallel in the Aramaic translation for the phrase "רוח זלעפות" is "זעפא עלעולא".

The connection between the root זע"ף and the description of stormy weather arises from several sources. זעפא (literally: זַעַף) in some Aramaic dialects is a 'storm wind', and even in Rabbinic Hebrew, it is often said of winds and rains that they come "בזעף", for example: "What does he say about the winds? 'Blessed is He whose power fills the world'. The Mishnah [refers to when] they come בזעף, but when they come gently, one says: 'Blessed is the Maker of Creation'" (Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 9:2; 13:3), and similarly in the story of Honi the Circle Maker in Mishnah Taanit: "...Rains began to drip. He said: 'Not for this did I ask, but for rain of cisterns, ditches, and caves'. They fell בזעף. He said: 'Not for this did I ask, but for rains of goodwill, blessing, and bounty'..." (3:8).

Today, there is a tendency to interpret the word זלעפה as derived from the root זע"ף. The Lamed (ל) requires explanation, especially if it is a dissimilatory Lamed, similar to the consonant Resh (ר) in a few biblical words like 'סרעפה' ('branch', from the root סע"ף). Some have connected here the Lamed in the rare form שלאנן ("כֻּלּוֹ שַׁלְאֲנַן וְשָׁלֵיו" [Job 21:23]) which appears in the Bible alongside the regular שַׁאֲנָן, or the name of the mountain גִּלְבֹּעַ if it is derived from the root גב"ע.

Either way, it seems that the phrase "גשם זלעפות" (and probably also its parallel "גשמי זעף") was created in Modern Hebrew (at least from the end of the nineteenth century). At first, it was used sparingly, and later, in the mid-twentieth century, it overcame its older brother "רוח זלעפות" and became more common than it.