The Lulav
Leviticus 23:40
Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
The bundle of branches combined with the citron is called lulav in Jewish tradition.
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Yahweh’s nation waved in the beginning the lulav only on the first day of Sukkot. By the time of the Temple, that practice had been extended to each of the seven days inside the sacred precincts of the Temple, though throughout the rest of Israel it was still done only on the first day. However, once the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai ruled that the lulav should be waved throughout Israel for seven days, in commemoration of the Temple. Later on they did all over the world.
The lulav with its three species represents our body (eyes, mouth and spine) and the etrog our heart. Therefore, when we hold both and shake them in six directions we pray to God with our whole being and acknowledge that the Divine Presence exists all around us. This is learned in Jewish tradition.
When I read Leviticus 23:40 I see people on the first day joyful searching for all those different branches and the fruit. Yahweh is not telling us what kind of fruit. It has to be beautiful. And they came back when they had them all. And this wasn’t easy because every kind was growing on a different place. But it was also not that hard because they were growing there much. The goal is to be in the wilderness for a while. And get connected with it. Their forefathers were walking for 40 years in the wilderness and were much depending on Yahweh. So this searching and the sukkot remembered them of their forefathers who were so long time living in the wilderness. With this branches and fruit they were waving joyfully while they were worshipping Yahweh and they were doing this for 7 days.
I think the branches were put with the cutted end in water and put on a cool place to preserve them for the 7 days. Nowadays they put them in a fridge to keep them good. I don’t know what works best.
Shaking the lulav is a way to give praise to Yahweh with a joyful heart.
The lulav worship has to done on a spiritual correct way. This is counting for every form of worship. So let us find out what is the right way.
Any worship of Yahweh that is not a true representation of your own individual selves is considered as not correct. A person should not copy how another person worship Yahweh. Our worship should be our own act of self-expression.
Matthew 15:8-9
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
Our words and speech have to reflect our hearts.
Is your heart happy or is it cringing when you worship. Feels it strange? On the surface, it looks like worshipping Yahweh. But the question is whether your worship represent the true desires of your heart? Is your heart filled with thoughts of holiness, with for Yahweh, Yeshua, His Word and His Kingdom? Or is your heart so materialistic and affected by all kinds of negative influences that it remain distant?
We must worship with sincerity. True worship is genuine and your heart is full of what we worship. Someone whose heart and mind is constantly and primarily focused on Yahweh and Yeshua doesn’t give place for something else.
You suppose to experience true, authentic joy from deep in your heart when you worship. With this feeling you praise Yahweh. You will be so much more alive when you worship like this.
Consider a person salivating over a delicious piece of food. When he then eats this food, he feels a vitality and enjoyment. He’s not just chewing the food, he’s enjoying the experience. The same is it with worship.
This experience had the disciples of Yeshua when He blessed them and was carried into heaven. Let us read this:
Luke 24:51-53
While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising Yahweh.
You have to have a personal experience with true meaning when you worship. You have to feel the depth of the prayers, the words and the rituals. This way you will make your personal relationship with Yahweh more strong and more close. Then the actions will feel spiritual and the experience will be spirit-full.