QUESTION: While you could certainly argue it both ways- I have a feeling that the core meaning of the טב element in the word טבור (navel) which refers to the place where the umbilical cord attaches is more closely connected to the “severing” meaning, as opposed to the “connection” meaning.
-Yosef Razin
ANSWER: I’d like to think that the intuitive association seems to be “connection”, and the Tanchuma cited in the footnote seems to hint to an ongoing connection to the אבן שתיה, which is akin to the umbilical cord according to the first source cited: וכן אבן השתיה שממנה נברא העולם נמשלה לטבור הולד: שמחות א:א – ילוד אשה מתחיל מטבורו ומותח לכאן ולכאן… כך התחיל הקב”ה לברוא את העולם מאבן שתיה… וממנה הושתת העולם. וע’ תנח’ (קדושים י) בענין שלמה המלך שידע לשאוב משלוחי אבן השתיה בנטיעת פרדסיו, ממש כמו עובר המתקשר לאמו דרך הטבור.
Also, why should we ignore all the “water” meanings in the first set of Hebrew- it’s clear that that is the common thread without needing to go to the rare usages.
I’m also not so sure that all the טב words related to severing are so rare, and I don’t think that there really are so many טב words that are really related to water. For example, טבע simply means sinking, not necessarily in water at all. And טבל means dipping, as in טובל פתו במלח (“dipping his bread in salt”), again with no intrinsic connection to water. So too רטב is used to indicate “vitality, strength, endurance” in Job, just as רענן bears the double meaning of “moist” on the one hand and “fresh/vibrant” on the other.
One possibility is that all the טב-related words have to do with cutting oneself off via water (per severing). And in halakhic thought these are purifying or makhshirin processes of preparation that are l’havdil bein Tahor/tamei, etc
Rabbi Yehoshua (Jeremy) Steinberg
RESPONSE: Right, but these are two sides of the same coin as well; the connection to טהרה concomitantly constitutes a severance from טומאה, but the goal is the former. The idea of “cutting off” and “creating” could relate to bereishit being a series of separations ultimately resulting in man makes a lot of sense then… -Yosef Razin
RESPONSE: Please elucidate the thought, I’m not sure I follow completely. In any case, I think there is a balance between independence on the one hand, and a permanent relationship with the Divine source on the other hand. Both are equally necessary, we just have to figure out how to do it!
Rabbi Yehoshua (Jeremy) Steinberg